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Jatlt*-* ^-alU^

Dj not covet your Noighliour'i goods !

Do not lend, or seoJ, or coorey this Uuuk

to JAi.xvif, Ambau, Nuaaus, or eltawli>;F<;. ~^

Dkah La 1)1 !

Keep yuifr prtstly liillu lingera and scis«ur«
Irom picking; nnil clipping ; and ^

though you deride tliu pkte and plates of
' iithcrs, spare mine I

[lad I bee[) utterly useleii wlien
Iiired, and constantly drunk whilu
serving; my Library liad been largui',
:iiid my need less, «r;o — pardon tbese Iiir>t ^ !

JAMES RALPH.
Jhhelhrr .in/ip'lmi.

I. •

4^ /c/a>^

•••St

DESCRIPTION

OF THE

CHARACTER, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS

OF THE

PEOPLE OF INDIA;

AND OF THEIR INSTITUTIONS,

RELIGIOUS AND CIVIL.

*' r

By the Abbe' J. A. DUBOIS,

MISSIONARY IN THE MYSORE.

TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH MANUSCRIPT.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN,

PJ TERNOSTER'RO W.

1817.

Plrtetad bv A. Stnhtn,
NwrStfwubqoift, LondoH.

/3- 1(^5^^^

TO
THE HONOURABLE

THE COURT OF DIRECTORS

THE EAST INDIA COMPANY;

BY WHOSE ACCUSTOMED LIBERALITY

AND GENEROUS ZEAL FOR THE DIFFUSION

OF B370WLEDGE,

THIS INTERESTING WORK

ON THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, UNDER THEIR PROTECTION,

HAS BEEN PROCURED
AND GIVEN TO THE WORLD:

THE TRANSLATION

IS,

WITH THEIR PERMISSION^

MOST HUMBLY AND GRATEFULLY

DEDICATED.

A 2

(^^'

.•^

11^

f^t

ADVERTISEMENT.

JThb French Mantiscriptj of which a Translation is here offered to the
Puhlicj was meditated and composed in the midst of the people whom it
describes. The absolute retiretnent of the Author from European society ^
far a series of y ear s^ well qualified him for penetrating into the dark and
unexplored recesses of the Indian character; but it has also veiled himself
in an equal degree, from the curiosity of his readers.

The little that is knoxjon of him in this country may be collected from the

following dispatch of the Governor in Council at Fort St. George j of the

24:th December 9 1807, to the Honourable Court of Directors of the East

India Company, which they have been pleased to allow the Translator to

publish :

^* We request your reference to the Minutes noted in the margin
« relative to a work which has been lately compiled by the Abbé
" Dubois, a gentleman of irreproachable character, who, having escaped
*< from the massacres of the French Revolution, sought refuge in India,
" and has since been engaged in the zealous and pious duty of a Mis-
" sionary, in the performance of which he has acquired a degree of
<< Aspect among both the European and native inhabitants that we
" believe to have been rarely equalled in persons of his sphere. It h
*^ amongst natives, however, that the time of this Missionary has been
" chiefly passed, and he has availed himself of the long intercourse, to
*^ compile a distinct account of the Hindoo Customs and Manners. In
^ order that you may be particularly informed of the character of th©

yî ADVERTISEMENT.

" work, we have inserted the following extract of a letter from Major
^" Wilks, late Acting President at Mysore, in which country the Abbé

" Dubois has chiefly resided, addressed to the Military Secretary of

". ou^ late President :

" * The Manuscript of the Abbé Dubois on Indian Casts, was

" put into my hands by the author early in the year 1806, and so

^^ far as my previous information and subsequent inquiry have

" enabled me to judge, it contains the most correct, comprehen-

" sive, and minute account extant in any European language of

" the Customs and Manners of the Hindus. Of the general

" utility of a work of this nature, I conclude that no doubt can

" be entertained. Every Englishman residing in India is inte-

'' rested in the knowledge of those peculiarities in the Indian

^^ casts which may enable him to conduct with the natives the

" ordinary intercourse of civility or business without offending

" their prejudices. These prejudices are chiefly known to Euro-

^^ peans as insulated facts, and a work which should enable us to

^ generalize our knowledge by unfolding the sources from which

" those prejudices are derived, would, as a manual for the younger

" servants of the Company, in particular, be productive of public

^^ advantages, on which it seems to be quite superfluous to enlarge.

« ' Being desirous of obtaining for the work the. advantage of

** a testimony to its merits of greater weight than any which I

^ could presume to. offer, I submitted it to the perusal of agen-

*• tleman of high literary eminence, who returned it to me with

" an eulogium which more than justified the opinion I had pre-

" viously formed, but without the permission (which had been the

" chief object of my communication) to make a public use of his
" name.'

" The Manuscript was communicated to Lord William Bentinck pre-

" viously to His Lordship's departure, and Mr. Pétrie has explained

^^ in a separate Minute the reasons which prevented the subject from

" being earlier noticed. The Abbé Dubois having no means of editing

" the work at his own charge» and it being obviously of public import-»

[ ance that so useful a compilation should not be withheld» it became

■■^.

ADVERTISEMENT. ' * yjj

^^ necessary to decide on the most proper mode of effecting the publi-
" cation of it.

'^ After full consideration, we decided to purchase it on account of
** the Company for the sum of two thousand pagodas, which though
^^ a moderate sum for a work which must have been attended with con-
^^ siderable labour, it was ascertained would be acceptable to the author.
^^ We beg at the same time to observe, that it is probable that this sum
^^ will be fully repaid by the sale of a publication which may be expected
^^ to excite considerable interest."

The prior conmltations of the Madras Government on this subject have
been also communicated to the Translators and shew the importance that
was attached to the work and the active zeal with which it was patronized.
Lord William Bentinck^ afier his retirement from the Government^ in
laying the Manuscript before the Governor in Councilj thus speaks of it :
^^ It is described by Sir James Mackintosh as being the most compre-
^ hensive and minute account extant, in any European language, of the
^^ Manners of the Hindoos."

It was generally understood thai Sir James Mackintosh felt his own
judgment, on this occasion, confirmed by its coincidence with thai of
Mr. W. Erskine of Bombay, a gentleman of distinguished talents, and
conversant equally with the Mythology, Literature, Manners, and Insti-
tutions of India.

My Lord William Bentinck sums up his own opinion as follows :
** The result of my own observation during my residence in India is,
^ that the Europeans generally know little or nothing of the customs
^^ and manners of the Hindoos. We are all acquainted with some pro-
^ minent marks and facts, which all who run may read; but their
^^ manner of thinking, their domestic habits and ceremonies, in which
^ circumstances a knowledge of the people consists, is I fear in great
** part wanting to us. We understand very imperfectly their language.
^ They perhaps know more of ours ; but their knowledge is by no means
'^ sufficiently extensive to give a description of subjects not easily re*
*^ presented by the insulated words in daily use. We do not, we can*
" not, associate with the natives. We cannot see them in their houses,
" and with their families. We are necessarily very much confined to

yîîî ADVERTISEMENt.

" our houses by the heat ; all our wants and business which would
*< create a greater intercourse with the natives is done for us, and we
" are in fact strangers in the land. I have personally found the want
" of a work to which reference could be made for a just description of
*^ the native opinions and manners. I am of opinion that, in a political
" point of view, the information which the work of the Abbé Dubois
" has to impart might be of the greatest benefit in aiding the servants
<« of the government in conducting themselves more in unison with the
. " customs and prejudices of the natives."

In the continuation of Major Wilks's Letter^ that gentleman^ m advan-
tageously known to thé world hy his own writings^ suggests^ in liberal eri-
tidsm of the Manuscript^ that, " though absolutely divested of all po-
<* litical matter, it contains for example a variety of opinions on the
" utility of the subdivision of the casts, on the origin of the Hindoo
" system, &c. which like all speculative opinions, are liable to be ques-
" tioned, and may perhaps be left to find their own supporters and
" opponents, the public having only to do with the facts j and in the
" general arrangement of the matter, I believe few faults or errors
" will be found. But if it should be deemed expedient to divest the
" work of any of the opinions to which I have adverted, the most con-
" venient mode would probably be in the first instance to purchase
" the manuscript.''

The work was accordingly brought over, and remained for a consider-
able time in the Company s Library, accessible to the curious, until the
beginning of the present year, when the translation was commenced under
the sanction of the Honourable the Court of Directors, Charles Grant,
Esq. M. P. being then Chairman, and Thomas Reid, Esq. Deputy
Chairman of the Court. It is now submitted to the Public without any
attempt to alter or improve the speculations of the Author. His candour,
sincerity^ piety, and high sentiment are so uniformly conspicuous and
expressive, that no danger is likely to attend any of his doctrines or the-
ories. And if his zeal may at any time betray him, in argument, to
conclusions apparently a little at variance, it would have been found but
an ungrateful service to interrupt the reader with notes for the purpose
of exposing small incongruities or in attempting to reconcile them. The

¥-•

ADVERTISEMENT. Jx

identifie portions, and whatever would require the aid of a library to
compose^ will not be harshly criticised in an author undotibtedly of an
ingenuous and cultivated mindj in the midst of a reserved and bigotted
people^ drawing his xvhole materials from the recollections of his early
studies^ and having no other resort^ as he tells us, but his Bible.

But in the great and important object of the work^ the delineation of
the people and whaiever distinguishes them from other nations^ books
would have been comparatively of no great avail. Little^ from that
source^ could have been added to the brief though correct outline of
HerodotiÂS and the few excellent inquirers and good writers of more
modem times whoj during the last century, have been but little known.
Here our author j following the only path that has ever yet led to any in-
vention or discovery in human concerns^ has eagerly studied, collected, and
arranged the phœnomena which a persevering curiosity and rigid self-
denial had brought within his observation.

In communicating hi» stores, he generally exhibits that fervour which
perhaps is inseparable from a mind conscious of imparting something
before unknown. From this cause redundancies may sometimes arise;
which might be easily pruned, though not perhaps without injury to the

flavour and raciness of the fruit.

A work on Manners and Customs is, in some measure, a book of Na^
tural History ; which, with the beauties of nature, must also describe what
is unseemly and (pensive. The grossness and indecency of the Indian
charaxiter under many circumstances, it xvas impossible to overlook, and it
would have been dishonest to conceal. But the indignant appeals of
the author to true modesty, and the veil afforded by our own language, it
is not doubted, will protect the most delicate sensibility from a wound.

The author rarely appears in his own person throughout the book, but
a single anecdote which we have before us, from another authentic source,
will suffice to leave a pleasant impression of him on the mind : " Of the his-
*^ tory and character of the author,'* Major Wilks subjoins in his Letter to
the Madras Government, " I only know that he escaped from one of the
" fusillades of the French Revolution, and has since lived amongst
^* the Hindoos as one of themselves ; and of the respect which his
^^ irreproachable conduct inspires it may be sufficient to state tbftt

•I

ADVERTISEMENT.

^^ when travelling) on his approach to a village^ the house of a
** Brahman is uniformly cleared for his reception, without interference,
« and generally without communication to the officers of government^
^< as a spontaneous mark of deference and respect.'^

London,
2àDecmb€rj 1816.

PREFACE.

X HOUGH Europeans have been in possession o£ regular and per-
manent establishments amongst the people of India for more thfn
three hundred years, it is wonderful to observe how little authentic in-
formation they have collected respecting the various nations which
inhabit that vast region.

We possess many details concerning several of the savage tribes of
Africa, and also concerning the hordes of beings in the shape of man
that are scattered over the vast continent of the new world ; a race
apparently formed by nature, nurture, and manners^ to humble and
degrade the whole of the human species. Yet a certain nation exi&its,
cultivated from the earliest ages, the only one perhaps in the universe,
which has never sunk into barbarism, and which, of all ancient
nations, may most deserve to fix the attention of the philosopher;
one which attracted the admiration of antiquity by its successful cul-
tivation of the sciences and arts, and by the admirable system whicl^
it invented for the maintenance of subordination in the community as
well as of good order in private life. This nation spread its renown
over the whole extent of polished antiquity, compelled the most en-
lightened of all people to confess its pre-eminence by alluring into its*
bosom the wisest of the philosophers of Greece. These, in spite of
their pride and high pretensions, felt not degraded by pursuing a long
and dangerous journey into India to consult the wisdom of its Brah-

a 2

mans, who had flourished there in long succession, and to acquire from
them a knowledge of the philosophy and the sciences which they had
cultivated until their fame extended even into Europe. How wonderful,
then, that such a nation remains almost unknown to the Europeans,
who dwell in the midst of it, and who bear rule over a large portion of
its soil !

The greater part of the ill-informed and often contradictory nar-
ratives that have been left us by travellers and other modern authors
respecting the nations of India, has deservedly, fallen into discredit
and contempt. This has, in ^ great measure, been brought about by
the literary associations which have been established in the country
itself, consisting of a great number of persons of real judgment and
learning, who have made a particular study of the language, the re-
ligion, the manners, education, and domestic economy of these people.
They have had access to the first sources of information, and have been
able to avail themselves of numerous interesting documents, derived
from sources, or drawn from records held in high and sacred estimation
by the native sages of the country.

Still, though what we have yet learned with certainty, concerning
the people of India is but little in comparison with what remains to
be known on so interesting a subject, it is not to be concealed that all
the writings and documents to be met with amongst the Hindus are
unfortunately blended with the most extravagant fables ; so that there
is little hope of our being able to draw from such authorities a true
and connected history of the country and of the various nations that
inhabit it.

Among the ancient historical works still to be found in the country,
the most esteemed and the most generally known are the Ramayana^
the Bhagavata^ and the Maha-Bharaia ; but the history which these '
books give us of the epochs of the dynasties of kings, of the series of
wars, of battles, and of heroes, in the various revolutions which the
country has undergone, as well as what relates to the introduction of
arts and sciences, are so enveloped in darkness and intermixed with in-
numerable fables, each more incredible than the preceding, that the

• ••

PREFACE» Kill

most skiUul author would in vain attempt to avail himself of such
faithless guides.

We shall see in the course of this work, how incredibly far the
Hindus carry their love of the marvellous. Their early historians, and
especially their poets, in their enthusiasm, took advantage of this
disposition of the people in writing their narratives, because they well
knew they could not interest their readers, or fix their attention without
recounting abundance of wild and surprising adventures; and ac-
cordingly they sacrificed all regard for truth to the desire of raising a
name by humouring the taste of the public Succeeding writers outdid
their predecessors by constantly adding to the ancient fables innume^
rable inventions still more absurd.

Now, however, the attention paid to the Eastern tongues by the
many learned Europeans who reside in the country, the progress they
have made in Indian literature, the successful researches they are con-
tinually making into the books and other ancient remains of the
nation ; together with the ample means which a liberal and enlightened
government possesses for collecting together the documents furnished
by many well informed individuals who labour under its direction, the
encouragement and rewards which it holds out to persons of every class
who have it in their power to discover authentic and interesting memo-
rials : all these considerations would lead us to hope that we may at
last behold the reality of Indian history through the thick clouds
which still obscure it. We may at least be enabled to separate what is
credible from the mass of absurdity and fable, with which the Indian
authors abound ; and an able compiler may surely find sufiicient
materials to construct a full and authentic history of a nation, whose
undoubted antiquity, the success with which it cultivated the arts and
sciences in the remotest times, the wise domestic controul which it
established at its origin, through which it has to this hour maintained
an admirable police, render it an object of the highest interest, in-
dependently of the peculiar nature of its idolatry and superstitious
rites.

But while such a work is only hoped for, I may be allowed, though
incompetent for so great a task, to offer the present details, which will

be found to contain many interet^ing pardeulsrs that are but imperfectly
known to most readers, and may even be useful to any author who
shall, undertake a more methodical and comprehensive history of the
Indian nations.

It was chiefly with this view that I was led to collect the numerous
details of which this work is composed ; for I aim not at the rank of
an author, which is neither suited to my talents nor the secluded state
to which my profession confines me amongst the natives of the
country.

It will be readily perceived by the reader that the arrangement of
the yariojyis subjects on which I have treated, was formed before the
comd^enckment bê those last revolutions by which the people of the
peninsula hlk^ been delivered from the iron yoke of that long suc-
cession of tyrants who oppressed them for so many ages, and before
they had passed under the rule of a nation distinguished throughout
the world for its beneficence, i(| moderation, its generosity, and above
all, for its impartial administration of justice to all classes of people
who live under its sway.

The spirit of justice and of prudence with which that nation rules
the people of India who have become its subjects, and particularly the
inviolable respect which she has .cc»atstantly shewn for the customs and
prejudices, civil and religious, which are inherent in every district and
cast, together witli the impartial protection which she extends alike to
the feeble and the strong, to the Brahman and the Pariah, to the
Quristian, the Mahometan and the Pagan; hare more exalted her
name and established her power in the east than even her victories and
her extensive conquests.

The wonderful revolution efiected of late years for the advantage of
the people of the south of the peninsula has not induced me to alter
the original plan of my work, where I treated of them as living under
the arbitrary government of their despotic Princes.

It is a number of years since I first formed my design, in consequence
of notices in the public papers calling for authentic documents re-
garding these people, for the use of the historiographers of the
Honourable Company engaged in writing a history of India.

From that period, I have employed my leisure in accumulating mar
terials and authentic documents for my work. My information has
been drawn from the diligent study of some of the works in greatest
estimation among the Hindus^ and some detached memoirs that acci*
dentally fell into my hands, the veracity of which I am well assured
of by personal observation. But I am chiefly indebted to an exact and
regular system of inquiry which I was enabled to maintain by a
residence of between seventeen and eighteen years among the people
whom I describe, and a close and familiar intercourse with persons of
every cast and condition of life through the great number of districts
which I have traversed.

During the long period that I remained amongst the natives, I
made it my constant rule to live as they did, conforming exactly in all
things to their manners, to their style of living and clothing, and even
to most of their prejudices. In this way I became quite familiar with
the various tribes that compose the Indian nation, and acquired the
confidence of those whose aid was nK>st necessary for the puiposes of
my work.

My great object was to gain authentic information ; which I here
communicate in a style simple and unadorned. If, in the great variety
of subjects on which I treat, I have at any time ventured to hazard aa
opinion of my own, and to enter upon discussions which neither my
abilities nor opportunities of investigation qualify me for, I entreat my
readers not to impute such digressions to ostentatious vanity, or to any
affectation of learning, in which I feel my deficiency, but merely to
the desire which I entertain of -^ affording to other authors, better
qualified than myself, occasional hints on subjects fit to exercise the
genius of the profoundest inquirer.

The work would have been more complete and more satisfactory to
most readers, if I had had the means . of referring to the ancient
authors, or to their European commentators, with regard to the quota-
tions I make, and the comparisons I draw between the Indians and
other ancient nations as to their religious and civil customs. But here
I found myself destitute of all help but what I received from my
Bible, or some modern authors whom chance rather than preference

xvi PREFACE.

put into my hands; or, finally, in the imperfect traces which iny
memory supplied of books I had consulted in my early years.

I hope my readers will be indulgent to me in this particular, and
attribute the inaccuracies they will discover in my references, and the
imperfect parallels I sometimes attempt to draw, to my exclusion
during so many years from every resource but what my limited under-
standing could supply.

In my description of the Indian casts, I must be imderstood to
have in view chiefly those that people the southern provinces of the
peninsula, within the Krishna. It is not unlikely that the habits and
customs on this side of that river may differ from those beyond it, or
that the provinces of the north may have some peculiar to themselves.

The religious and civil regulations which I describe in this work
form a general bond of social union among the Hindus in the
south of the peninsula ; and nearly the whole of them are of indis-
pensable observance.

But there are also many other rules peculiar to eachseveral cast,t
people, and district. Indeed there is no tribe of Hindus that has not, in
addition to the general rules of the society^ some domestic usages
peculiar to itself. Some have customs that are merely local and
followed only by a few. A perfect acquaintance with such customs is
not to bè attained, because they differ in every part, and are brought
to no standard by the natives themselves.

A more interesting and a more useful study than that of the
peculiar usages of the casts, would be to trace the various nations that
people the vast empire of India; for, although these nations are all
united together by the bf^nds of the same religion, and also by those
of the same education, as far as good behaviour and decent intercourse
in society go, yet great differences appear amongst them, in language
as well as in character, in manners, inclinations, and habits. A good
observer will remark, under all general points of resemblance, as much
difference between a Tamul and a Telinga ; between a Canara and a
Mahrata, as one would perceive in Europe between an Englishmaq
9Xià a Frenchman, an Italian and a German.

PREFACE. |^yî{

*•

There are some cotlntries in India peopled from time immemorial by
different nations^ who5 though mixed together in the same province
and even in the same district, still preserve their distinct language,
character, and national spirit On the Malabar coast, for example,
within a space of forty or fifty leagues from north to south, fix)m
Telichery to Qnore or to Nagara, there are no less than five different
nations peopling that small territory ; and all of them appear to have
been settled there upwards of a thousand years. These five nations
are the Nairs^ or Naimarsy the Kurga or Kvdagu^ the Tuluvu,
the Kaunguni^ and the Canada. These are not merely names of
casts, as might be supposed, but they distinguish five different nations,
each of which is divided, like all other Indian nations, into a variety
of casts ; and although these five races dwell in the same district, each
has its peculiar language, by which it is as much discriminated as by
its national customs, spirit, and character.

In every country of the peninsula great numbers of foreign families
are to be found whose ancestors had been obliged to emigrate thither,
in times of trouble or famine, firom their native land, and to esta-
blish themselves amongst strangers. This species of emigration is
very common in all the countries of India ; but what is most re-
markable is, that in a foreign land, th^se emigrants preserve firom
generation to generation their own language and national peculiarities.
Many instances might be pointed out of such foreign families settled
four or five hundred ytears in the district they now inhabit, without
approximating in the least to the manners, fashions, or eVfen to the
language of the nation where they have been for so many generations
naturalized. They still preserve the remembrance of their origin, and
keep up the ceremonies, the usages of the land where their ancestors
lirere bom, without ever receivirtg any tincture of the particular habits
of the country where they live.

Under all the circumstances that have been mentioned, there is
nothing to be seen but the most absolute toleration amongst the
aboriginal inhabitants of every district ; and so long as the stranger
settled amongst them conforms to the accustomed rules of decorum,
each may follow his own national customs, preserve his native language

xvîii PREFACE.

in his family, and in all things follow the usages bf his ancestoi», with-
out any man attempting to find fault with the singularity of his manner
of living.

The facility of intercourse which the Europeans now enjoy with the
different nations which people the peninsula of India, will no doubt
soon afford us interesting details on the various subjects which do not
fall within the scope of this work, and which indeed would require the
labour of more than one author.

In attempting a description of the Indian casts, and of the customs
and usages which unite them together, I have been most solicitous to
pourtray that discriminating peculiarity, which though the most curious
of all, is still the least understood. Those who have visited India
will appreciate the difficulty of holding any communication with the
Brahmans. They know the vast distance at which this class hold^
itself from the rest of the community. They know their hatred and
sovereign contempt for all stratigers, but particularly for Europeans,
their close reserve and their jealous caution to prevent the mysteries of
their religion, or of their science, or even of their domestic discipline
from being divulged to other men.

By various means I surmounted many of the obstacles which have
effectually opposed other authors in this career. If my details on the
Brahmans and the other casts of Hindus, are not in general so full as
many readers would desire, and as I myself would have expected,
if I could have had all the aid I required, I have. yet the vanity to
think they will appear interesting, and even satisfactory to many
readers who have learned nothing on the subject but from ill-inform€|d
authors.

I have subjoined to the whole an Appendix, containing a brief ac-
count of the sect of the Jainas, of their doctrines, the principal points
of their religion, and their peculiar customs. Other writers possessing
more information than I do, will hereafler instruct us more fully con-
cerning this interesting sect of Hindus, and particularly respecting
their religious worship, which probably, at one time, was that of all
Asia, from Siberia to Cape Comorin, north to south; and from the
Caspian to the Gulf of Kamtchatka, from west to east } and which

PREFACE. xîx

was probably one of the earliest kinds of idolatry which appeared on
the earthj^ at the time when men, forgetting the idea of 'their Creator,
dçifîed the stars, the elements, and other striking objects, and even
mortals like themselves ; fashioning images to preserve their memory .
by clothing them with a visible form.

b 2

CONTENTS.

PART I.

GENERAL VIEW OF SOCIETY IN INDIA.

CHAP. I.

Division aud Subdivision of Casts. — Distinction of Right Hand and Left

CHAP. IL

Advantages resulting from die Division ot Casts

* • * •

Pdge 1

CHAP. IIL

Expulsion from the Cast

CHAP. IV.

Restoration to the Cast

CHAR V.

Antiquity and Origin of the Casts

•

CHAP. VI.

The fiEibulous Origin of the Brahmans. — On their Name and original Founders.'
Conjectures on their real Origin .....

CHAP. VIL

Of the dififarent Kinds oi Brahmans

XXÎi CONTENTS.

CHAR VIII.

Of the sects of Vishnu and Siva,— Causes of the Opposition of the ordmary
Brahmans to the Vishnu Brahmans and other Sectaries ... Page 51

CHAP. IX.
Of the Gurus or Priests of India - - - - - 64

CHAP. X.
Of the Purohitas or Masters of the Ceremonies - - - - 78

CHAP. XL
Of the Mantras or Forms of Prayer - - - . .77

CHAP. XII.

Of the Ceremonies practised over the Brahman Women when brought to bed, and
on Infants of tender Age -----..84

PART IL

OF THE FOUR STAGES IN LIFE OF THE BRAHMANS.

CHAR I.
State of, the Brahmachari - - - - - - 91

CHAP. II.

Of the conduct expected from the Brahmachari, and the rights he acquires by
receiving the Cord -...-..- loo

CHAP. III.

Of the exactness with which a young Brahman must shun external Defilement, and
the different Practices in this respect - - - - 108

CHAP. IV.

Of the interior Defilement of the Body; of the Abstinence of the Brahmans, and
the particular horror of the Hindus for the flesh of the Cow - - -115

CONTENTS. xxiu

CHAR V.
Of the Defilement of the soul, and the Remedies used to effiice it - Page 124

CHAP. VI.

Conjectures respecting the Origin of the rites of the Brahmans concerning Unclean-

ness and Purity « - - - - - - - 128

CHAP. VIL
Of Marriage among the Brahmans - - . - . 132

CHAP. VIII.

Of the second Degree of Brahmans ; that of Orihastha, and the duties which it
imposes --.-..\.- 147

CHAP. IX.
The Triple Prajrer of the Brahmans - ... « 154

CHAP. X.
Of the Fasts and Festivals of the Brahmans ..... I6O

CHAP. XL

Of certain prohibited sorts of food amongst the Brahmans ; and thdr secret and
nocturnal sacrifices - - * . -. - - 167

CHAP. XIL
The different Avocations of the Brahmans • . - « . 174

CHAP. XIIL

Of the Toleration of the Brahmans in Religion, and their Bigotry in Politicid

Affidrs.-^ Their Contempt of Strangers - - - - 179

CHAP. XIV.
Of the Manners of the Brahmans - - * - - - - 189

CHAP. XV.

Of the exterior Qualities of the Brahmans and other Hindus ; their bodily and

mental Weakness; of their Language, their Dress, and their Houses - •198

XXiv CONTENTS.

CHAP. XVL

Of the Rules of Politeness in use amoDgtheBrahioani and other HindnSd'-^Of their

Visits and Presents - - - - . Page 207

CHAR XVIL

Oi the Decorations worn by the Hindus, and the different Emblems with which

they adorn their Persons ------- 213

CHAP. XVIIL
Of the married Brahman Women; their Dress and Ornaments - - 217

CHAP. XIX.
ïhe State of Widowhood.— Second Marriages not permitted - - - 224

CHAP. XX.
Rules and Precepts for the conduct of Married Women -. - - - 229

CHAP. XXI.
Of the custom of Women allowing thetnselves to be Burned with the Corpses of th&r

Husbands

236

CHAP. XXII.
Of Adoption among the Bralnhans and other Hindus - - - - 248

CHAP. XXIII.
Partition of Property in certain Cases ----- 253

CHAP. XXIV.
Of the Literature of the Brahmans and particularly their Poetry - - 258

CHAP. XXV.

The Epistolary Style of the Brahmans . . - . . 269

CHAP. XXVI.
On the Hindu Ij[and- Writing - . - . . 274*

CONTENTS.

zsv

CHAP. XXVII.
Death and Obsequies of the Brahmans . . «

CHAP. xxvm.

The Cerononies practised by the Brahmans for the Dead, after the Obsequies

Page 286

294

CHAP. XXIX.

Of the Third Condition of the Brahmans, that of Vanaprastha or Inhabitants of the

Desart ---... 309

CHAP. XXX.

Rules of the Vanaprasthas

S07

CHAP. XXXI.
Of the Sacrifices of the Anchoret Brahmans; particularly the Yajna

SIS

CHAP. XXXII.

Of the Giants, the Adversaries of the Anchorets

SJ9

CHAP. XXXIII.

Opinions of the Hindu Philosophers on the Nature of God, of the Different Beings
in the Univers and particularly the Soul . ,. ^ . 328

CHAP. XXXIV.
On the Influence of Penitence in purifying the Soul ; and on Purification by Fire 929

CHAP. XXXV.
Of the Learning of the Solitary Brahmans and of the Epoch of the Flood

S84

CHAP. XXXVI.

Of the Magic practised by the Vanaprastha Brahmans, and still in use among the

Hmdus - - . - * - - S41

CHAP. XXXVII.

Of Sannyasi, the Fourth State of the Brahmans : the Manner of Inauguration and
the Rules ----- ^ ^

S50

Xxvi CONTENTS.

CHAR xxxvm.

The TariouB Duties of the Sannyasi, particularly ContJempkdon - - Page S55

CHAP. XXXIX.

Of the Funerals of the Sannyafli Brahmans - ^ - - 362

PART III.

RELIGION.

CHAP. I.
The Origin of the Trimurti, and the Primitive Idolatry of the Hindus - - 367

CHAP. II.
Tlie principal Festivals of the Hindus, particularly that of the Pongol or Sankranti S82

CHAP. III.
Of the Temples of the Hindus and the Ceremonies there practised - - S9S

CHAP. IV.
Ofthe principal Divinities of India ..... 429

CHAP. V.
Of the Worship of Animals, and that of the Bhutas or Malevolent Beings • 445

CHAP. VI.
Ofthe Pariahs and other Inferior Casts of EQndus ... 454

CHAP. VII.

Of the Metempsychosis. The Hindus the Inventors of the Doctrine, Causes and
Number of the Transmigrations. Of the Pains of Hell and their Duration.
Abodes of Bliss - . . . - . 477

CHAP. VIIL
Exercise of Justice^ Civil and Criminal «..«.. 493

CONTENTS.

XXVU

Ofthe Hindu Fables

CHAR IX.

Page 502

Hindu Tales

CHAP. X.

508

Of the Military System of India

CHAR XL

530

APPENDIX.

On the Sect of the Jainas and the Principal Differences between them and the
Brahmans .......

549

DESCRIPTION

THE PEOPLE OP INDIA.

PART I.

GENERAL VIEW OF SOCIETY IN INDIA.

CHAP. I.

DIVISION AND SUBDIVISION OF CASTS. — DISTINCTION OF RIGHT HAND AND LEFT.

X HE word Cast is a Portuguese term, which has been adopted by
Europeans in general, to denote the different classes or tribes into which
the people of India are divided. The most ordinary partition, and at
the same time the most ancient, is that which arranges them in four
principal tribes. The first and most distinguished of all is that of
Brahmana or the Brahmans : the second in rank is that of Kàhairiya or
Rajas : the third the Vaisya or merchants and cultivators^ and the last
that of Sudras or cultivators subordinate to the others.

Each of these four principal tribes is subdivided into several more,
of which it is difficult to determine the number and the sort ; for this
division varies in the different countries, and several casts known in
one province do not appear in another.

Among the Brahmans, for example, there is one for each Vedur.
They admit also of several subdivisions among them, which prevent
them from making a close union with each other in many cases, and
particularly in that of marriage*

2 DIVISION Oî CASTS.

Hie tribe of Rajas and that of Merchants are likewise split into
many divisions and subdivisions : but the tribe of Sudras is that - in
which they are multiplied most of all. I have never found any man
in the provinces where I have lived, able to fix with precision on the
number and the species of them, although it is often, and indeed
proverbially repeated, that there are eighteen chief subdivisions, and
one hundred and eight others.

The most numerous of the four principal tribes, then, is that of the
Sudras or cultivators, and I think it no exaggeration to reckon them to
amount at least to five sixths of the population of India.

Most of the professions, and almost all the trades, with the arts and
employments which are indispensable to civilized society, belong to
the tribe of the Sudras: and. as, by the prejudices, of the country, no
cast and no individual can be of two trades, a particular tribe being ex-
clusively sbt apart for each occupation and each trade, so it is not
surprising that the divisions and subdivisions of the casts should be so
exceedingly numerous in this tribe, or that it should stand so high in
point of number in the general scale of society.

But there are several casts of cultivators not known but in particular
countries. Of those elsewhere unknown, the country of Tamul
appears to me to have the most subdivisions. There are not nearly
so many even in the Decan, nor in the Mysore, nor on the coast of
Malabar. In none of those parts have I found any casts- correspond-
ing to those in the territory of Tamul, known in their • dialect, under
the names of Matideli, Agambadèya, Nattaman, Udyan, Totiyar,
Ventu#en, Valeyen, Upiliyen, and several others.

It is to be observed however, that the tribes of the Sudras, to which
those employments belong, which are every where indispensable,
must necessarily be found in all the countries, under the different
appellations used in their respective tongues. The most considerable
of the casts that are universally spread are the following. The Herdsmen
who keep the cows ; the Shepherds who tend the sheep ; the Weavei^s ;
the Panchalas^ meaning the five cftsts of artizans, which comprehend
the carpenters, goldsmithi, blacksmiths, stone-cutters, founders, and
in general all workers in metals ; the Barbers ; and the Utartmsj whose

DIVISION OF CASTS'. 3

chief employment is to excavate tanks» repair their banks, erect mud
walls, and the like.

These last kinds of labom*, with some others, being equally required
in all places, the casts which exercise them, and upon whom they are
exclusively imposed, are of course found in every country. These
employment» descend from &ther to son, from one generation to an*^
other ; and in no case can the son renounce the cast of his father or
take up a profession different from that of his ancestors.

The casts which we have enumerated belong entiœly to the tribe of
the Sudras : but the several casts of the cultivators take precedence of the
rest and look down with contempt on the tribes of tradesmen and
labourers.

In some districts, casts ara to be seen that cannot be metVith else-
where, and which are to be distinguished from all others by singular
peculiarities.

I am not aware, for example, that the very remarkable cast of Nai^
mars or Nairsj in which the women enjoy a plurality of husbands, is
to be found any where but in the forests of the coast of Malabar.

The cast of Calarisj or Robbers, who exercise their profession with*
out disguise, as their birthright, is found but rarely beyond the Marava^
a territory bordering on the fishing coast The princes of this little
state belong to the tribe and profession of Robbers^ and conceive their
calling no way discreditable to themselves or their tribe, as having
legitimately descended to them by right of inheritance. So far from
shrinking at the appellation, if one of them be asked who he is, he will
coolly answer that he is a robber. Indeed the tribe is accounted one
of the most distinguished among the Sudras, in the province of Madura^ -
where it flourishes.

There is another cast in the same province, called the Totiyars^ in
which brothers, uncles, nephews and other kindred, when married^
enjoy the wives in . common.

*In the east of the Mysore there is a tribe known by the name of
MoTM-Hokula Makiduj in which when a mother gives her eldest
daughter in marriage, she herself is forced to submit to the amputation
of the two middle fingers of the right hand, as high as the second

B 2

4 DIVISION OF CASTS.

joint ; and, if the mother of the bride be dead, the bridegroom's mothec
must submit to the cruel ceremony.

. In many other districts there are casts famous for practices no less
irrational than those we have mentioned.

. In general it may be remarked that, in addition to those customs
and ceremonies, civil and religious, which are constant and invariable^
and unite the whole race in things essential, there is no tribe that does
not exhibit some particular and local varieties of its own by which it is
discriminated from the rest. Some distinguish themselves by the cut
and colour of their clothes, some by the manner in whidi they put
them on. Others are remarkable for some particular shape of their
trintets, and others for the arrangement of them on different parts of
the body, in particular modes. In some yom will observe certain pecu-
liar forms in celebrating the ceremonies of marriage or of mourning ;
and in others the decorations and the flags of various colours which
are their distinction on similar occasions.

Extravagant, however, as many of their modes and customs
are, they never draw down from casts of the most opposite habits and
fashions the least appearance of contempt or dislike. Upon this point
there is, through the whole of India, the most perfect toleration, as long
as the general and universally respected laws of good behaviour are not
infringed". - With this exception every tribe may freely and without
molestation follow its own domestic course, and practice all its pçculiar

rites.

There are, however, certain customs to be noticed in some districts,
which though they are universally practised amongst them, are so de-
cidedly contrary to the laws of decency and propriety observed in other
countries, that they cannot be alluded to without feelings of disgust
and even of horror. It will scarcely be credited that the invariable
practice amongst the greater number of the casts of the whole of
the South of the Mysore, subjects the women to what, in other
parts, would be considered the foul indignity of attending upon all
.visitors and strangers, as well as those of the family, when they go
forth upon: the call of nature. The female waits, and, when; it is time,
she advances with her bason of water, performs her task of ablution»

DIVISION OF CASTS. 5

and withdraws with the air of having well acquitted herself in a grace-
ful accomplishment.

. The use of intoxicating liquors, which is rigorously forbidden by all
the good casts in other parts, is permitted by the inhabitants of the
forests and mountains on the coast of Malabar. There, the best casts
of Sudras quaff, openly -and without shame, the arrack and toddy ; and
wives and children follow the example. £ach inhabitant in those parts
has his toddy dealer, who regularly brings him the daily supply, and
takes in return an equivalent in com when the harvest comes round.
But a practice so opposite to all the notions of decency and virtue, en-
tertained in the other districts, exposes these unhappy people to the
opprobrium and scorn of the whole nation.

The Brahmans and Lingamists, who inhabit these districts, are pro*
hibited from the use of toddy or arrack under the penalty of exclusion
from their cast or sect. But they supply the defect by opium, the use
of which is universally interdicted, but not held so much in detestation
as that of the toddy and other inebriating liquors.

The inhabitants of these inoist and unwholsome countries no doubt
have perceived that the. moderate use of spirits and opium is necessary
for the preservation of their health, by correcting the noxious vapours
they are constantly obliged to inhale. Nothing indeed but absolute
necessity could have overcome the shame and the remorse of breaking
down one of the most venerable barriers of Hindu civilization.
. There are likewise certain usages purely religious, which are observed
only by particular casts, or in particular territories. For example, it i^
but in the districts on the west of the Mysore that I have observed Mon-
day in every week kept nearly in the same manner as Sunday is among
Christians. On that day the inhabitants abstain from labour, and parti-
cularly from that which requires the use of oxen aiid kine, and from
tillage. It is a day of rest for their cattle rather than for themselves*
It is consecrated to Baswa or the Bull, and set apart for the special
worship of that deity.

This practice however does not subsist- universally excepting in the dis-
tricts where the Lingamists, the followers of Siva rule. That sect pay-
ing more particular homage to the Bull than the other Hindus, ke^ up

g DIVISION OF CASTS.

in the districts- where they predominate the strict observance of the
day which they have consecrated to their divinity, and compel the
othet casts to respect it also, by making it a day of rest to their cattle.

Independently of the divisions and subdivisions common to all the
casts, 'and the migration from one tribe into another through all India,
a farther distinction arises from one family making alliajice with an*
other. This distinction is still more to be attended to in the case of
intermarriage. For the Hindus of good casts avoid as much as they
can any new alliance, and the heads of families use their utmost endear-
vours to disuse of their children amongst families with whom they are
already connected either by consanguinity or affinity. Marriages- are
4nore easily contracted in proportion as the parties are more nearly re*
lated. A widower re*marries with the sister of his former wife : the
unde espouses his ùiece, and the cousin his cousin. Persons so related
possess an exclusive privilege to intermarry, upon the ground of such
relationship : and, if they choose, they can prevent any other union, and
enforce their own preferable right. But there is one singular exception
from the rule ; for the uncle will take to wife his sister's daughter, but by
no means his brother^s : the children of a brother will intermarry with
those of the sister, but not the children of two brothers or of two sisters.

This distinction is invariably kept up through all the casts, from the
Brahman to the Pariah. And however remote the persons related are
from the original stocky^ so long as the memory is preserved of their
springing from the same root, although in the fiftieth generation, or in
the twentieth degree of relationship, the male line retains its right in aU
cases to connect itself with the female ; but never can the children of the
male line intermarry with each other, nor those of the female line unite.

Agreeably to this distinction, a custom has arisen, which, as far as I
know, is peculiar to the^Brahmans. They are all supposed to know the
Gotram or root from whence they spring ; that is to say, they know
who was the ancient Muni or devotee from whom they descend ; and
in order to avoid intermixture with a daughter or descendant of this
original stock they find a reason for marrying into a different Gotram.
t The Hindus who cannot form a suitable connection among their rela-
tions are still bound to marry in their own cast» and even in that branch

DIVISION OF CASTS. 7,

of it^ to which they belong. In no case will any pretext avail them for
contracting a marriage with à stranger. Neither can the Sudra casts
of a country form an alliance with the Gollovahron TaltigUj although
these two casts make but one^ which is that of the herdsmen differ-
ently denominated in the respective dialects. The HoktUorJilakiila;^
Canara^ will on no account marry with the Valyalar Tamtdsy although
these two casts differ only in name : and the case is the same with
other tribes.

The most distinguished amongst the four great tribes into which the
Hindus were originally separated by their first legislators^ is that of the
Brahmans, as we • have already observed. The next are the Rajas.
The superiority of rank is more contested between the Sudras or Culti-
vators and the Vaisya or Merchants. But the precedency seems to
be universally denied to the latter excepting in the Hindu books, where
they are uniformly placed before the Sudras. This cast, however, in
all the transactions of life hold themselves high above the^ Vaisya,
and consider themselves entitled in most cases to shew their superiority
over them by demonstrations of contempt

The Brahmans however do not hold the highest rank in society un-
disputed. The PanchaUts or five casts of artisans who have been already
mentioned, obstinately refuse, in several districts, to acknowledge the
superiority of the Brahmans, although these five casts themselves are
considered to be of very low rank among the Sudras, and are held in
great contempt. And the Brahman ascendancy is still more warmly
disputed by the Jainas^ of whom we shall speak hereafter.

With regard to the particular subdivisions of the tribes, it would be
difiicult to determine which exceed the rest in dignity, because some ^
casts which are decried in one part are firequently esteemed in another
according ifo they conduct themselves with propriety, or exercise the
more reputable employments. Or if it should happen that the prince
of *a district belongs to a particular cast, although otherwise of the least
consideration, it rises to distinction, and all its members partake in the
lustre of its chief.

After all, the public opinion' is the only sure ground of superiority
among the casts ; and a very slight acquaintance with the customs of

g DIVISION OF CASTS.

a province, and wîth its inhabitants will suffice for fixing the statioil
which each cast hss acquired by common consent
. In general, it will be found that the tribes which are most attentive
to propriety of demeanour, in the rigid sense in which it is understood
by Hindus ; who are constant in their ablutions ; who abstain from
animal food ; who are exact in the rules prescribed for family alliance ;
whose wives are the most recluse, and most vindictively punished
when they err ; those who most resolutely maintain, the customs and
privileges of their order : such are the casts that are reputed the most
noble.

Of all the Hindus, the Brahmans stride the most to keep up the
feeling of outward and inward purity. Hence their ablutions are
most firequent, and their abstinence moBt rigorous, not only firom
all kinds of food that has had the principle of life, but even firom many
of the simpler productions of nature which their superstitious pre-
judices lead them to consider as impure or capable of communicating
defilement It is chiefly this unfailing .sentiment of propriety which
raises that high cast into the respect and reverence which they enjoy
in the world.

Amongst the different tribes of the Sudras, on the other hand,
those who allow to widows the privilege of marrying again, are- con-
sidered as beneath the other tribes, and have almost sunk into con-
tempt Excepting the tribe of the Pariahs^ 1 hardly could name one
where such marriages could be openly celebrated or obtain the
countenance of the cast

The division into casts is the paramount distinction amongst the
Hindus ; but there is still another division j that of Sects. The two
best known, are those of Siva and Vishnu. These two great sects are
subdivided into a vast number of subordinate ones, whibh shall be
afterwards, considered.

TTiere are several casts, too, that may be distinguished by certain
symbols or marks which they assume* and exhibit in some way peculiar
to each. It is in this way that the Brahmans of the North of the
peninsula, called Uirasa Brahrnanaj are recognized in public, by a
perpendicular line which they draw on the middle of the forehead with

DISTINCTION OF RIGHT HAND AND LKPÎR 9

a paste made of sandal-wood. The Brahmans of the fanning provinces
are known by a line or stripe horizontally drawn on the same part,
while those in the souths being for the most part attached to the sect of
Vishnu, take for their mark the figure called Naman, which will be
described hereafter.

Of the four great tribes, the three first, namely, the Brahmans^ the
Rajas^ and the Merchants^ distinguish themselves, firom the various
casts of Sudras by a narrow belt of thread, which they always wear
suspended firom the left shoulder to the opposite haunch like a sash.
But being borne also by the Jainas and even by the Panchalas, or five
casts of artisans, the mark is rather equivocal.

From what has been said it will appear after all that the name of a
cast foriQs its best discrimination. The tribes of Israel were so distin*
guished. The names of several of the Hindu tribes have a known
meaning ; but in general they are so ancient that it is now impossible
to trace the meaning, if they ever had any.

There is another division of the different tribes still more general
than those that have been yet mentioned. It is that of RighUhand and
of Left-hand. It appears to be but a recent invention, as it is not men-
tioned in any of the ancient books of the country ; and I have been
assured that it is almost unknown in the north, and is indeed confined
to a part of the southern provinces.

But although there is reason to think that this distinction of righU
hand and left never entered into the contemplation of the wise men
who gave laws to the Hindus, yet they have affi)rded us no stronger
proof of their sagacity than in conceiving the division of the people into
several casts.

This particular distinction, however, which we have alluded to, by
whomsoever invented, has turned out to be the most banefiil that could-
have been imagined for the tranquillity of the state, and the most inju-
rious to the peace of the citizens. It has proved the perpetual fountain
of disturbance and . insurrections amongst the people, and a continued
principle of endless jealousy and animosity amongst all the members of
the community.

20 DISTINCTION OF RIGHT HAND AND LEFT,

The greater number of the Hmdu casts belong either to the left-hand
or to the right The first division consists of the whole tribe of the Vaist/a^
of the Panchala^ or five casts of artisans, and of some other mean tribes
of the Sudras. This hand also includes the most infamous of aU casts,
that of the Cobblers or Chakilij who are reckoned to be its principal
support.

The right-hand has, among its partisans, the most distinguished casts
of the Sudras. That of the Pariah forms its strongest bulwark, as a
proof of which they still glory in the title of Valangay Mongattar^ or
friends of the Right-hand.

The fiercest opposition arises out of this separation ; and of all the
contests to which the people are accustomed, the battles between the
two Hands always produce the greatest alarm and the severest evil.

The Brahmans, the Pariahs, and several tribes of the Sudras are con-
sidered neutral, and enjoying all the privileges and honours attached to
both Handsj they take no part with either. These neutral casts are fi:e-
quently called upon to arbitrate in the fierce disputes* between the two
parties of the Hands.

The opposition between the Right-hand and the Left-hand arises
from certain privileges to which they both lay claim; and when any
encroachment is made by either it is instantly followed by tumults
which firequçntly spread over whole provinces, accompanied with every
excess, and generally with bloody contests. Gentlest of all creatures,
timid under all other circumstances, here only the Hindu seems to
change his nature. There is no danger that he fears to encounter in
maintaining what he terms his right, and rather than yield it he is
ready to make any sacrifice, and even to hazard his life.

I have repeatedly witnessed instances of these popular insurrections
excited by the disputes between the two Hands^ and pushed to such an
extreme of fury that the presence of a military force under arms had no
effect to quiet them, nor even to allay their clamours, or stop their out-
rageous course in what they conceive the rightful cause.

I have known instances of attempts made by the magistrates to sooth
these uproars by remonstrances and other means of conciliation, and
when these have produced no effect they have been obliged to resort to

DISTINCTION OF RIGHT HAND AND LEFT. Jl

measures of compulsion. Some shots of musquetry would then be
tried, but neither this nor the certainty of its being followed up with
stronger measures, has the slightest effect in abating their insolence.
Even when an overwhelming military force has fully put them down, it is
only for the moment ; and whenever an opportunity occurs they are
instantly up again, without reflecting on the evils they formerly suf-
fered, or shewing the smallest tendency to moderate their impetuous
violence.

Such are the excesses to which the timid, the peaceable Hindu,
sometimes abandons himself; whilst his bloody contests spring out of
motives which, to an European at least, would appear frivolous and
trifling. Perhaps the sole» cause of the contest is about his right to
wear pantoufles ; or whether he may parade in a palanquin or on horse^
back, on the day of his marriage. Sometimes it is the privilege of being
escorted by armed men ; sometimes that of having a trumpet sounding
before him, or the distinction of being accompanied by the country
music at public ceremonies. Perhaps it is the ambition of having flags
of certain colours, or with the resemblances of certain deities displayed
about his person on such great occasions. These are some of the im-
portant privileges, amongst many others not less so, in asserting which
the Indians do not scruple occasionally to shed each other's blood.

.As it not unfrequently happens that one of the Hands makes an
attack on the privileges of the other : this occasions a quarrel which
soon spreads and becomes general, unless it be appeased at its com-
mencement by the prudence or the vigour of the magistrate.

I may perhaps be thought to have said quite enough of the effects of
this direful distinction of right-hand and left But I may be permitted
to relate one instance at which I myself was present The dispute was
Wween the cast of Pariahs and the Cobblers, or Chakili, and produced
such dreadful consequences through the whole district where it hap-
pened, that many of the peaceable inhabitants had begun to remove their
effects and to leave their villages for a place of greater safety, with the
same feelings as when the éountry sees an impending invasion of a
Mahrata army, and with the same dread of savage treatment. Fortu-
nately in this instance, matters did not come to an extremity, aa the

c 2

12 DISTINCTION OF RIGHT HAND AND LEFT.

principal inhabitants of the district seasonably came forward to mediate
between these vulgar casts, and were just in time, by good management,
to disband the armed ranks on both sides that only waited the signal of
battle.

One would not easily guess the cause of this dreadful commotion.
It arose forsooth from a Chakili, at a public festival, sticking red flowers
in his turban, which the Pariahs insisted that none of his cast had a
right to wear.

( 13 )

CHAP. n.

■

ADVANTAGES RESULTING FROM THE DIVISION OF CASTS.

X HERE are many persons that have thought so little about the
genius and character of the different nations that people the earth';
of the influence of education, of religion, of climate, of food, upon
their manners, desires, and customs ; that they are astonished how
beings radically of the same nature and of the same feelings, should
so exceedingly differ from each other. Such men are trammelled by
the prejudices of education. They can see nothing well ordered but
in the police of their own country. Every thing there being in good
method» they desire to put all nations of the earth on the same
footing; and whatever does not fall within their limits, is denounced
by them as barbarous or ridiculous. They will not consider that,
though the nature of man is universally the same, it is nevertheless
subject to be . modified by the circumstances of the country, by the
climate, the education and prejudices incident to each people; and
that the rules laid down and followed in one nation would be sub*
versive of another.

I have heard many individuals, otherwise of great judgment, so
full of the prejudices they had brought with them from Europe, as ta
decide most erroneously (according to my opinion) on the subject of
the division of the.Hindus into casts. This distinction appeared to them,
not only as not promoting the good of society, but also as ridiculous»
and calculated merely to oppress the members of the state and to dis*
unite them.

For my part, having been in a situation to observe the character of
the Hindus, and having lived amongst them for many years, Mi>&

II • '

14 ADVANTAGES RESULTING FROM

brother and a friend, I have formed an opinion upon this subject
altogether opposite. I consider the institution of casts amongst the
Hindu nations as the happiest effort of their legislation ; and I am well
convinced that if the people of India never sunk into a state of
barbarism, and if, when almost all Europe was plunged in that dreary
gulf, India kept up her head, preserved and extended the sciences,
the arts and civilization ; it is wholly to the djbstinction of casts that
she is indebted for that high celebrity.

To establish the justice of this opinion, it is only necessary to
cast our eyes on the various races of men who live under the same
latitude with the Hindus, and to consider what they have always
been, and what they now are, whilst their natural dispositions are
not yet corrected and purified by the benign influence of the revealed
religion. Let us reflect on the condition of the nations most con-
tiguous to them both in the peninsula and beyond the Ganges, as far
even as China. Her temperate climate, indeed, and a government
particularly adapted to the genius of a people that has no resemblance
to any other on earth, have produced the same effect as the division
of casts has operated on the Hindus.

In reflecting on this subject, I have found out no cause that can
have prevented the Hindus from falling into the barbarous state in
which all the nations bordering on them, as well as almost all others
that are spread over the globe under the torrid zone, remain, unless it
be the division into casts; which, by assigning to every individual
in the state his profession and employment, by perpetuating the
system from, father to son, from generation to generation, prevents
the possibility of any member of the state or his descendants giving
up the condition o( pursuit which the law has assigned him for any
other. This has been the ruling, and perhaps the only means that
the most clear-sighted prudence could invent to maintain civilization
amongst a race formed with such natural dispositions as the Hindus
are.

We have it in our power to form some judgment of what the
Hindus would degenerate to, if the restraint of the division, the
rules and the police of casts were abolished, by considering what the

THE DIVISION OF CASTS. ] 5

Pariahs of India are ; who, being exempt from all restrictions of
honour and shame, which so strongly infhience the other casts, can
freely and without reserve abandon themselves to their natural pro-
pensities.

Every man who carefully considers the character and conduct of
such a class of men as this, being the most numerous of all, I think
will agree with me, that a state consisting intirely of such members
could not long endure, and could not fail to decline very quickly
into the worst degree of barbarism. For my own part, who know the
inclinations and sentiments of this species of men, I am persuaded
that a nation of .Pariahs, left to themselves, would speedily become
worse than the hordes of cannibals that wander in the desarts of Africa,
and would soon fall to the devouring of each other.

I am no less convinced, that the Hindus if they were not restrained
within the bounds of decorum and of subordination by means of the
casts, which assign to every man his employment, and by regu-
lations of police suited to each individual ; but were without any
curb fit to check them, or any motive for applying one, would soon
become what the Pariahs are, or worse ; and the whole nation sinking
of course into the most fearful anarchy, Jndia, from the most polished
of all countries, would become the most barbarous of any upon earth.

The legislators of India, whoever they may have been, were far too
wise and too well acquainted with the nature and disposition of the peo-
ple for whom they prescribed, to leave to the discretion or fancy of every
individual, in what manner the sciences were to be cultivated, as well as
the various professibns, and the different arts and trades .necessary to
maintain the existence of a state.

They set out from that grand principle which has been recognised by
all the ancient legislators, that no man is to be permitted to be useless
to the commonwealth. But they saw, at the same time, that the people
for whom they acted were naturally so indolent, and that this propen-
sity was so greatly aggravated by the climate, that unless every indivi-
dual had a profession or employment rigidly imposed, the state coidd
not exist, but must quickly tumble into the most deplorable anarchy,
and end in savage barbarism.

Ig ADVANTAGES RESULTING FROM

Those legislators, being also well aware of the danger of all innova^
tions in matters political or spiritual, and being desirous to establish
durable and inviolable rules for the different casts into which they di-
vided the Hindu people, could find no surer basis of an orderly govern-
ment than the two grand foundations of religion and. policy.

Accordingly w^ find hardly any of their civil observances that are
not combined with some religious mixture, either as the motive or the
object. Every thing, in short, is blended with superstition ; whether it
be the manner of salutation, the mode of dress, the shape and colour
of the clothes, the placing of their trinkets and other ornaments, the
manner of erectipg their houses and other buildings ; the side where
the fire place is to stand, or where the household utensils ; and even
the rules of civility and politeness which they are called on to observe.

I have been closely viewing their customs and observances for more
than fifteen years, and I have scarcely remarked aniy one, however simple
or indifferent, or, I may add, indecent, that had not something religious
either for its motive or end.

It is thus that the Hindus hold all their customs as sacred and indis-
pensable, because being united with religion they partake of its sacred
and inviolable quality.

This contrivance of dividing the people intp different casts or tribes,
did not exclusively belong to the Hindu legislators. The wisest and
most celebrated man of ancient times, Moses, availed himself of the
same institution for managing an intractable and rebellious race.

The same distinction of casts existed amongst the Egyptians as
amongst the Hindus ; and in both, the trade or employment was im-
mutable from father to son, and no man, in either country, could exer-
cise two professions.

There was this dffiference, however, between the Egyptians and the
people of India, that amongst the former, all employments, to the very
lowest, were held equally in esteem, and it would have been highly
censurable in any man to treat contemptuously persons in any trade
that contributed to the general good : whereas, amongst the Hindus,
there are certain employments to which prejudice or perhaps more
powerful reasons have attached such ignominy, that those who practise

THE DIVISION OF CASTS. jiy

them are universally despised and looked down upon by the casts that
move in a higher sphere.

It must be remarked, however, that the four great employments
without which a civilized state could not exist, namely the soldier, the
agriculturist, the merchant, and the weaver, are held in honour through
India. All casts, from the Pariah up to the Brahman, may exercise any
one of the three first without disgrace ; and even the last is not despised
by the better casts amongst the Sudras.

This same division of the people into tribes which we observe among
the Hindus, subsists to the present time among the Arabs, and probably
may have been common to all nations in ancient times.

Several other ancient legislators seem to have employed the division of
the people into tribes as the groundwork of the civilization which they
wished to introduce. Cecrops divided the people of Athens into four
tribes or classes, which were afterwards subdivided into ten more.
The great legislator Solon respected this' division, and confirmed it in
many particulars.

Numa Fompilius saw no better method of quieting the jealousies and-
animosities which subsisted amongst the people whom he governed,
composed chiefly of Romans and Sabines, than the division of the
whole into classes or casts. This division had the desired efiect; and
those two communities when combined into one national mass forgot
their discordant interests and thought no longer but of what concerned
the cast or class.

Those who were admirers of this plan of dividing a people into tribes
could not but perceive that in proportion as the distinction into classes
is firmly established in any society, so much the more- completely may
order and good arrangement be introduced amongst them, together with
the facility of directing them and the preservation of good morals.

And in truth it is the influence of this artificial order, and the separa-
tion into ca^ts amongst the Hindus, which make the whole tribe feel
the faults of one member as reflecting disgrace on the rest as long aa
they remain unpunished. The cast is thus obliged to take justice into
it§ own hands, for the purpose of avenging its honour and to restrain
ipdthin the bounds of good orde; all the individuals that compose iU

J8 ADVANTAGES RESULTING FROM

For every cast has its ancient customs, agreeably to which, like the
patriarchs of old, it can inflict the severest punishment iipon the
guilty.

Thus, in several tribes, adultery is punished with death. Young
women and widows who allow themselves to be seduced, and the
seducers also, sufier the same punishment.

The magnificent temple of Canjavaran^ in the Camatic, an immense
structure, is said to have been erected at the charge of a very wealthy
Brahman who was convicted of intercourse with a woman of the tribe
of the Pariahs. His own cast condemned him to expiate his crime by
this enormous sacrifice; although it was not inflicted so much to
punish the crime as the meanness of condescending to «o unworthy a
partner.

There are many other faults of a scandalous nature on which the cast
has a right to determine, and not only against the perpetrator but all
those who may have been his abettors : so that it may be affirmed that
it is the influence of custom in the cast that preserves morality among
the Hindus, represses their vices, and prevents the nation fi^om sinking
into barbarism.

The good police and the wise sentiments inculcated on the greater
number of the tribes, form not only a powerful rampart to keep up the
Hindu nation in a state of civilization, but serve to counterbalance in a
certain degree the evil -effects which a religion that encourages vice and
the depravity of morals by all its ceremonies would certainly occasion,
if it were not counteracted by the sentiment of the people.

In India, where the Princes live in extreme indolence, and take little
pains to make their people happy by the reign of justice and good
morals, there are no other means of attaining this end and of preserving
good order but by the authority and customs of the casts. The worst
of it is that in many cases this authority is not sufficiently extensive,
while in many others it is employed in animadverting upon transgres-
-àions of fi*ivolous rites rather than in extirpating real crimes, for which
a culpable indulgence is too fi-equently shewn.

This authority of the casts likewise forms a defence against the abuses
which despotic princes* are «eady to commit Sometimes one may see

THE DIVISION OF CASTS. 1^

the traders through a whole canton shutting up their shops, the farmers
abandoning their labours in the field, the different workmen and arti-
sans quitting their booths, by an order from the cast, in consequence
of some deep insult which it had suffered from a governor or some other
person in office.

The labours of society continue at a stand until the indignity is re-
paired or the injustice atoned for, or at least till the offended cast has
come to an accommodation with the persons in power.

Another important advantage arising from the division into casts is
the continuation of families, and of that species of nobility peculiar to
the Hindus, which consists in never contaminating its blood with any
foreign mixture. Each individual must unite only with one of his own
family, or at least of the cast from which he sprung. In India the re^
proach will not hold, which is so oflen made in Europe, of families
becoming debased and degenerate by unsuitable and ignoble connect
tions. A Hindu of a good cast, without pedigree or any other tables
of genealogy but the fact of his being bom of the cast, can point back*
ward to his extraction for two thousand years, if he pleases, without
fear of contradiction or the slightest suspicion of a blot in his pedigree.
He may also, with no other recommendation than that of being a
member of the cast, and in spite of poverty, aspire to advancement ;
and wherever he goes he will be better received and more courted
for an alliance than others in easier circumstances, but of blood less
pure.

There are some districts and tribes, undoubtedly, where the purity of
alliances is not so narrowly scrutinized. But this laxity is considered
as derogatory, and as an open violation of propriety ; and it is so uni-
versally condemned that those who are guilty of it conceal it as far as
they are able, that they may avoid the public shame it would bring
upon them.

I might be justified in asserting farther, that it is by the division of
casts that the arts are preserved in India ; and there is no reason to
doubt that they would arrive at perfection there, if the avarice of the
rulers did not restrain the progress of the people.

J> 2

£0 ADVANTAGES RESULTING IHOM

It was with this view that the £g3rptians were so strictly divided intb
tribes, because (as Bossuet observes) their wise legislators perceived tha(
by such means all the arts and trades would arrive at perfection ; and
that a person would learn to do that well which he had always had
before his eyes, and which he had been constantly practising from his
infancy.

This high perfection in art and manufacture would undoubtedly be
attained by a people so patient and industrious as the Hindus, if it were
not perpetually checked by that avarice of * their great men which I
have before alluded to. For as soon as it is known that an artist of
great skill exists in any district, he is immediately carried off to the
palace of the ruler, where he is shut up for life and compelled to toil
without remission and with little recompense.

This practice, which is common through all the provinces of India
that are subject to princes, cannot fail to extinguish all industry and to
deaden emulation. It may therefore be considered as the principal
and perhaps the only cause which has kept the Hindu people so far be-
hind other nations whom they have for so many ages preceded in
civilization : for their artists and workmen are endowed with dexterity
and industry, perhaps in a superior degree to the Europeans.

In the countries that are under the government of Europeans, where
the workmen are paid according to their merits, I have seen many
articles of furniture executed by the natives so exquisitely that they
would have been ornamental in the most elegant mansion. Yet no
other tools were employed in the manufacture but a hatchet, a saw, and
ti plane, of so rude construction, that a European artisan could not have
used them.

In those parts» I have known travelling goldsmiths, who, with no im-
plements but what they carried in their moveable booth, consisting of
a small anvil, a crucible, two or three hammers, and files, would execute
with so simple an apparatus, toys aà neat and well finished as any that
could be brought from distant countries at a great expence. To what
perfection might not such men arrive, if they were instructed from
their infancy under fit masters^ instead of being guided by. the simple
dictates of nature ?

THE DIVISION OF CASTS.

In order to form a proper idea of what the Hindus are capable of,
in arts and manufactures, if their natural industry were properly en-
couraged, it is only necessary to go into the work-shop of one of their
weavers, or painters on cloth, and to attend . minutely to the humble
-machinery with which they execute those beautiful muslins and match-
less cloths which are every where admired, and constitute the finery
of Europe. In performing those ingenious labours, the workman em-
ploys his feet as much as his hands.

On the other hand, the weaving loom, the whole apparatus for
spinning the thread before it is woven, and all the utensils necessary
for his trade, are so few and simple, that altogether they form no heavy
ioad for a man to carry ; and it is no uncommon thing to see one d^
those artisans who manufacture the splendid works we have mentioned,
moving fi-om one village to another, bearing on his back every thing
that is necessary for commencing his work the moment he arrives.

Their paintings on cloth, which are not less admired than their
worics of the loom, are performed with means as little complicated.
Tliree or four bamboos to stretch the cloth, two or three pencils to
apply the colours, a few bits of a broken dish to hold the paints, and
a piece of stone to grind them, are the only implements of the cloth
painter.

I will now venture one political reflection on the advantages produced
.by the division into casts. In India, paternal authority is but little
respected ; and the parents, partaking of the indolence so prevalent
over all* the country, are at little pains to inspire into their children
that filial reverence which is the greatest blessing in a family, by pre-
serving the subordination necessary for domestic peace and tranquUlityi
The afiection and attachment between brothers and sisters, never
very ardent, almost entirely disappears as soon as they are married*
AAer that event, they scarcely ever meet, unless it be to quarreL

The ties of blood and relationship are thus too feeble to afford
that strict union, and that feeling of mutual support which . are
required in a civilized state. It became necessary therefore to unite
them into great corporations, where the members have à commod
interest in supporting and defending one another*. And» ..to malœ

^ ADVANTAGES RESULTING FROM

this system effectual, it was requisite that the connection which
bound them together, should be so intimate and strong as that
nothing Can possibly dissolve it

This is precisely the object which the ancient legislators of India
have attained by the establishment of the different casts. They have
thus acquired a title to glory without example in the annals of the
world ; for .their work has endured even to oiu: days, for thousands of
years, and has remained almost without change through the succession
of ages and the revolutions of empires. Often have the Hindus sub-
mitted to a foreign yoke, and have been subdued by people of different
manners and customs. But the endeavours of their conquerors to
impose upon them their own modes have uniformly failed, and have
scarcely left the slightest trace behind them.

The authority maintained by the casts has every where preserved
their duration. This authority in some cases is very large, extend-
ing, as we have already observed, to the punishment of death. A
few years ago, in a district through which I was passing, a man of
the tribe of Rajaputras, put his own daughter to death, with the
approbation of the people of his cast, and the chief men of the place
where he resided. His son would have shared the same fate if he
had not made his escape ; but no person imputed any blame to the
Rajaputra.

There are several other offences, real or imaginary, which the casts
have the power of punishing capitally.

A Pariah who should disguise his real cast, and, mixing with the
Brahmans or even with the Sudras, should dare to eat with them or
touch their food, would be in danger of losing his life. He would be
overwhelmed with blows on the spot, if he were discovered. But a
capital punishment, inflicted under such circumstances, would not be
considered as a judicial act, but rather as proceeding from an imme-
diate feeling of indignation, as a burst of zeal or noble fanaticism ; of
which we have some examples in the history of the Jews.

But, though the punishment of death is authorised in certain cases
by some of the casts, it is inflicted but seldom. Ignominious punish-
ments are more common ; such as shaving the heads of lewd women.

THE DIVISION OP CASTS. 23

Sometimes the criminals are forced to stand for several hours in
presence of the chiefs of the cast assembled, with a basket on their
heads filled with earth ; sometimes they are set upon an ass with their
face towards the tail. On some occasions their faces are smeared with
cowdung ; or the cord is stripped from those who have the right to
wear it. At times they are expelled from the tribe ; or some other
mark of ignominy is inflicted.

« •.

( 24 )

CHAP. III.

EXPULSION . 1?R0M THE CAST.

CJF all sorts of punishment, the most severe to a Hindu is that of
being cut off and excluded from his cast. The right of inflicting it
belongs to the Gurus of whom we shall afterwards speak ; or, where
there are none, it is assumed by the chiefs belonging to the body.
These may generally be found in every district of moderate extent, and
recourse is had to theiti in all cases relating to the police of the cast
Hiey are assisted in their office by the elders or principal men of the
place where they are consulted.

Expulsion from the cast, which is the penalty inflicted on those who
are guilty of infringing the accustomed rules, or of any other offence
which would bring disgrace on the tribe, if it remained unavenged, is
in truth an insupportable punishment. It is a kind of civil excommu-
nication, which debars the unhappy object of it from all intercourse
whatever with his fellow creatures. He is a man, as it were, dead to
the world. He is no longer in the society of men. By losing his cast,
the Hindu is bereft of friends and relations, and often of wife and
children, who will rather forsake him than share in his miserable lot.
No one dares to eat with him, or even to pour him out a drop of
water. If he has marriageable daughters they are shunned. No other
girls can be approached by his sons. Wherever he appears, he is
scorned and pointed at as an outcast. If he sinks under the grievous
curse, his body is suffered to rot on the place where he dies.

Even if, in losing his cast, he could descend into an inferior one,
the evil would be less. But he has no such resource. A Sudra, little
scrupulous as he is about honour or delicacy, would scorn to give his

EXPULSION FROM THE CAST. 25

daughter in marriage even to a Brahman thus degraded. If he cannot
re-establish himself in his own cast, he must sink into the infamous
tribe of the Pariah, or mix with persons whose cast is equivocal. Of
this sort there is no scarcity wherever the Europeans abound. But,
unhappy is he who trusts to this resource. A Hindu of cast may be
dishonest and a cheat ; but a Hindu without cast has always the re^ .
putation of a rogue.

The exclusion from the cast is frequently put in force without much
ceremony; sometimes even out of hatred or caprice. These cases
happen when individuals, from whatever motive, refuse, in whole or for
the greater part, to assist at the marriages or funerals of any one of their
relations or friends, or to invite, on ''such occasions of their own, those *
that have a right to be present. Persons excluded in this way never
fail to commence proceedings against those who have offered them the
insult, demanding reparation for their wounded honour. Such instances
are commonly terminated by arbitration, and in that case the exclusion
is not attended with the hateful and ruinous consequences before de-
scribed.

It is not necessary that offences against the usages of the cast should
be either intentional or of great magnitude. It happened to my know-
ledge not long ago that some Brahmans who live in my neighbourhood!
having been convicted of eating at a public entertainment with a Sudrat
disguised as a Brahman, were all ejected from the cast,^ and did not re^
gain admission into it without undergoing an infinite number of cere-»
monies both troublesome and expensive.

I witnessed an example of this kind more unpleasant than what I
have alluded to."^ In the cast of the I^eyars, the parents of two families
had met and determined on the union of a young man and girl of their
number. The usual presents were offered to the young woman, and
other ceremonies performed which are equivalent to betrothing among
us. After these proceedings, the young mail died, before the time ap»
pointed for accomplishing the marriage. Afier his death, the parents
of the girl, who was still very young, married her to another. This
was against the rules of the cast, which condemn the betrothed girl to
remain in a stat;e of widowhood^ although the husband for whom she

2S EXPULSION FROM THE CAST.

was destined dies before marriage. Accordingly all who had assisted
at the ceremony or who had been present at it, were cat off from the
cast, and no one would afterwards form any connection with them.
Long after this happened, I have seen some of the individuals^ ad-
vanced in age, who remained in a solitary state for this reason
alone.

Another incident of this kind occurs to me, which was rather of a
more serious complexion than the preceding* Eleven Brahmans, in
travelling, having passed through a country desolated by war, arrived at
length, exhausted by hunger and fatigue, at a village, which, contrary
to their expectation, they found deserted. They had brought with
them a small portion of rice, but they could find nothing to boil- it in
but the vessels that were in the house of the washer^man of the village.
To Brahmans, even to touch them would have been a defilement alraort
impossible to efi&ce. But being pressed with hunger they bound one
another to secrecy by an oath, and then boiled their ' rice, in one of
the pots, whidi they had previously washed a hundred times.' One of
them alone abstained from the repast, and as soon as they reached their
home, he accused the other ten before the chief Brahmans of the town.
The rumour quickly spread. An assembly is held. The delinquents
are summoned, and compelled to appear. They had been already ap-
prised of the difficulty in which they were likely to be involved } and
when called upon ta answer the charge, they unanimously pro-
tested, as they had previously concerted, that it was the accuser only
that was guilty of the fault which he had laid to their charge. Which
side was to be believed? Was the testimony of one man to be taken
against that often? The result was, that the ten Brahmans were declared
innocent, and the accyser, being found guilty, was expelled with igno-
miny from the tribe by the chiefs, who though they could scarcely
doubt of his innocence, yet could not help being offended with the dis-
closure he made. •

From what has been savl» it will no longer be surprising that the
Hindus should be as much attached to their casts as the gentry of Eu-
rope are to their rank. Prone to abusive altercation, they use the most
unmeasured language to each other, and instantly forget it : but if one

EXPULSION FROM THE CAST. 27

should say of another that he was. a man out of cast» it would be an in-
jury that could admit of no pardon.

From this attachment to cast arises that which they entertain for
their customs, which may be said to constitute their whole police. It
is an attachment which is often more powerîul than the desire of life ;
and in certain cases death would appear the lighter evil ; as, for ex- .
ample, in eating food dressed by the Pariahs. I have seen examples of
this feeling; and if I have met with still more instances of the contrary,
these were at least concealed.

Upon the same principle, we are to account for the hatred and con-
tempt which the Hindus bear to all other nations and particularly the
Europeans. These from being but little acquainted with the usages of
the natives, or out of carelessness, openly violate them upon a^ occa-
sions. They never shew the smallest desire to conciliate the regard of
the people among whom they live, by making any sacrifice to their pre-
judices. But what the Hindu conceives to be the greatest indignity is
their taking Pariahs for their servants, or keying women of that abo-
minable cast The proud Hindu, on observing this, immediately
concludes, as his habits and education lead him to do, that master
and servant, husband and wife are all of one tribe, and that all Euro-
peans are of the vile cast of the Pariah ; because, according to their
notions, Pariahs alone would edmit other Pariahs into their service.
Their principles, however, do not hinder them, upon this point, to
act with the lowest submission when their interest requires it

£ 2

( 28 )

CHAP. IV.

RESTORATION TO THE CAST.

XIlFTER exclusion from the cast, the individual may be reinstated, in
several cases. When the exclusion has proceeded from his relations,
the culprit, after gaining the principal members, prostrates himself in
à humble posture before his kindred assembled on the ocpasion. He
then submits to the severe rebukes which they seldom fail to admini-
ster, or to the blowa and other corporal chastisement to which he is
sometimes exposed, or discharges the fine to which he may be con-
demned ; and, aitet shedding tears of contrition, and making solemn
promises to efface, by his future good conduct, the infamous stain of hia
expulsion from the cast, he makes the Sashtangam^ or prostration of
the eight members, before the assembly. This being completed, he is
declared fit to be reinstated in his tribe.

f m

As we shall often have occasion to make mention of the Sashtangam
in the course of this work, it is now proper to give a definition
of the word. It signifies literally with the eight members of the body;
because when it is performed, the feet, the knees, the belly, the
stomach, the head, and the arms must touch the ground. This is the
greatest mark of reverence that can be given. It is used nowhere but
in the presence of those to whom an absolute and unlimited deference
is due. This reverence is made only before the highest personages,
such as kings, guru3, and others of lofty rank. A child occasionally
performs it before its father ; and it is common to see it practised by
various casts of Hindus in presence of the Brahmans.

This sign of reverence is not confined to the Hindus, but is common
to several other nations of Asia ; which is confirmed by the most ancient

RESTORATION TO THE CAST. gg

of all books, the Bible, where this extraordinary mark of reverence is
called by the name of adoration^ even when it is applied to mere mortals*
It is said in the book of Genesis that Abraham ran to meet them firofa
the tent-door, " and bowed himself toward the ground*." Lot also, "rose
up, and bowed himself with his face. toward the ground f .'* In the in-
terview with his brother Esau, Jacob " bowed himself to the ground
seven times, until he came ne^r to his brother :[:." In the history of
Joseph the same obeisance is more than once described §. There are
many other passages in scripture where this salutation is alluded to^
from which it appears that this extraordinary degree of respect was em-
ployed amongst the 1[^haldeans, Egyptians, . and other ancient people
commemorated in the sacred writings, under circumstances and for
purposes exactly similar to those in which it is still employed to this
day in India.

When a man is expelled from his cast for reasons of great moment,
they sometimes slightly bum his tongue with a piece of gold made hot^
They likewise apply to different parts of the body iron stamps, heated
to redness, which impress indelible marks upon the skin. In other
parts they compel the culprit to walk on burning embers ; and, last of
all, to complete the purification, he must drink the Panchakaryam; a
word which literally signifies ihejive things; which are so many substances
that proceed from the body of the cow, namely, milk, butter, curd, dung,
and urine, all mixed together. This is a term not to be forgotten, as it will
frequently occur in the course of this work. The last of the five things,
namely the urine of the cow, is held to be the most efficacious of any
for purifying all imaginable uncleanness. I have often seen the super-
stitious Hindu accompanying these animals when in the pasture, and
watching the moment for receiving the urine as it fell, in vessels, which
he had brought for that purpose to carry it home in a fresh state ; or
catching it in the hollow of his hand to bedew his face and all his
body. When so used it removes all external impurity ; and when taken
internally, which is very ccytnmon, it cleanses all within*

* Gen. chap, xviii. 2. f Gen. chap. xix. 1.

% Gen. chf^. xxxiii. 5. $ Gen. chap. xlii. 6. chap, xliii. 26. chap. L 18.

30 KBSTORATION TO THE CAST.

The ceremony of the Pandiakaryam bemg closed, the person who
had been expelled must give a grand entertainment. If he be a Brah-
man he gives it to the Brahmans, who flock to it from all parts ; or if he
belong to another cast, those that belong to it are his guests. This
finishes the whole ceremony, and he is then restored to all his
privileges.

There are certain oâfences, however, so heinous in the eyes of
Hindus as to leave no hope of restoration to those who have been
excluded from their cast for committing them. Such would be the crime
of a Brahman who had publicly married a woman of the detested tribe
of the Pariah. If the woman Were of any tribe l&s base, it is possible
that, after repudiating her, and disclaiming all his children by her,
many acts of purification and a large expence might at length procure his
restoration. But very different would be the case of one who should be
so abandoned as to eat of the flesh of a cow, supposing the idea of such
enormous wickedness to enter into the heart of a Brahman or any other
Hindu of respectable cast. If such a portentous crime were by any
possibility committed, even by compulsion, the abhorred perpetrator
would be beyond all hope of redemption.

When the last Musalman prince reigned in Mysore, and formed the
ambitious desire of extending his. religion over all the peninsula of
India, he seized a great number of Brahmans and had them circumcised.
Afterwards he made them eat cows' flesh, in token of renouncing their
cast and their customs. After the war which liberated that people
firom the yoke of the tyrant, I know that nqt a few of those who had
been forced to become Musalmans, made every efibrt, by ofiering large
sums of money, to be re^admitted into their cast, which they had not
abandoned but through force* Assemblies were held in different parts
for examining into this business, and the heads of the cast, out of which
they were formed decided unanimously that, after many ceremonies
and expensive purifications, those who petitioned for re-admission might
be cleansed from the complicated pollution contracted in their commu*
nication with the Moors. But when it was ascertained that those who
were circumcised had been also under the necessity of eating cows'
flesh, it was decided with one voice, in, all their assemblies, that a pol->

RESTORATION TO THE CAST.

lution of that nature and such a prominent crime could by no means
admit of forgiveness ; that it could not be obliterated by presents, nor by
fine, nor by the Panchakaryam. This decision was not- confined to the
cast of the Brahmans ; for I know well that many Sudras in the same
situation had no better success, and were all obliged to continue
Musalmans.

The Rajaputras, as well as the good casts among the Sudras, are still
more difficult than the Brahmans in receiving back those who have been
expelled. Amongst the former, indeed, this degrading punishment is
not inflicted but upon grave offences ; whereas among the latter it is
the punishment of slight breaches of their customs. .

But whatever the cast may be from which one has been expelled,
much cost and many ceremonies are required to reinstate him. Even
when he has regained his place, he never overcomes the scandaL The
blot continually remains ; and in any altercation he Hiay &11 into, his
former misfortune is sure to be commemorated.

( 32 )

CHAP. V.

ANTIQUITY AND ORIGIN OF THE CASTS.

JN OTHING in the world appears to be of greater antiquity than the
casts of the Hindus and the customs which pertain to them. The an-
cient Greek and Latin aujthors who have made mention of India, speak
of those institutions as the groundwork of Hindu civilization established
from time immemorial. The inviolable attachment of that people to
their customs is a strong evidence of their antiquity. They are bred in
the principle of invariably clinging to their customs, so that any new
habit is a thing unheard of among them ; any man attempting to in-
troduce one would rouse the whole nation and would be proscribed as
a dangerous innovator. So difficult would it be, that I believe it has
never yet entered into the imagination of any intelligent Hindu.
Every thing relating to their customs proceeds evenly, and is transacted
with inflexible uniformity, and the minutest particulars are treated as
of the utmost importance ; because they have been taught that it is by
the strict nicety with which small matters are attended to that the
most momentous concerns are sustained. Accordingly there is no na-
tion on the earth that can boast of having kept up for so long a time
its domestic rules and customs without any perceptible change.

• Some modem philosophical writers among them, such as Vemana,
who has written his performance in the language of Telingana ; and
Tiruvaluven who has written his in the Tamul, are distinguished highly,
and have made the Hindu customs the subject of their satire, throwing
the sharpest ridicule upon the religion and habits of the country. But
while these authors are exercising all their skill and raillery in ridicul-
ing the religious ceremonies established in the nation, they never fail

ANTIQUITY AND ORIGIN OF THB CASTS. 33

to recommend the practice of them, and are strictly attentive to it themr
selves. The works of the two authors I have named are always read
and quoted with delight by all intelligent Hindus, although there be
not a page in their writings that does not contain satirical reflections
aimed at their gods and the worship and rites of the country.

One of the most artful contrivances made use of by the early Hindus
for preserving their customs, has been that of clothing them with cere-
monies, which make a strong impression on the senses, and communi-
cate something holy to the practice. These ceremonies are rigorously
observed. It is never permitted to any one to treat them as matters of
form which may be practised or omitted at pleasure. The omission of
any, even of the least important, would not be allowed to pass unpu*
nished. •

Some of their most important tenets are not peculiar to them, but
are common to all ancient nations. The rule of marrying within the
family is of this sort. We find in the holy Scripture that Abraham
married his niece; -and it is probable that it was a general custom
among the Chaldeans. Farther, he sent to a far country to bring a
kinswoman for his son Isaac Rebecca could not pardon her son
Esau for giving her strangers for her daughters-in-law, that is to say
Canaanites ; and she sent her best beloved son Jacob to marry .in their
own family, distant as it was. It had passed into a custom therefore,
with them, as well as with the Hindus, to intermarry with their own
kindred. Of the latter people, when settled in a strange country, it is
the usual practice to send perhaps upwards of a hundred leagues to the
place of their nativity for wives and husbands to their sons and daugh-
ters. As to the distinction of casts, Moses introduced it among the
Israelites, as we have elsewhere remarked. Besides having the com-
mand of God, he must have seen this division of the people into
tribes while he sojourned in Eg3rpt. He was educated there, and
must have perceived the advantage which that system produced
in maintaining good order; and therefore, in legislating for the
people of God and establishing amongst them the division into tribes,
he adopted and improved the political system of the Egyptians aifd
Arabians.

34 ANTIQUITY AND ORIGIN OF THE CASTS.

But the origin of the casts amongst the Hindus goes back to a much
higher aera than that of any other people, if credit be given to their
ancient books, in which it is written that the whole was the work of
the God Brahma, when he replenished the earth with inhabitants.
From his head sprung the Brahmans'; the Kshatriya or Bajas, from
his shoulders ; the Vaisya or merchants from his belly ; and the Sudras
or farmers from his feet.

It is easy to perceive that this tale is a pure allegory, alluding not
only to the rank which the casts maintain in relation to each other, but
also to the different functions of those who compose them. The Brah-
mans, no doubt, being generally engaged in the spiritual concerns of
life, must have burst from the head of the Creator. Power being the
attribute of the^Rajas who were ordained to the arduous duties of war ;
from whence could their origin be derived but from the shoulders and
arms of Brahma ? The Merchants, solely occupied in providing food,
clothing and other necessaries of life, were no less appropriately drawn
from the belly of the god : and the plodding Sudras, doomed to the
humble drudgery of the field, were sliaken out of his feet.

Dropping this fabulous origin of the casts, which is familiar to every
Hindu, their writers give countenance to another, which refers that es-
tablishment to the remote sera of the subsiding of the universal deluge :
for this awful event, which made a new world, was almost as distinctly
known to the Hindus as to Moses.

We will revert to this subject hereafi;er j but in the meantime we
may observe that a famous personage, distinguished by the Hindus
under the name of Manu was saved from the flood by the aid of a bird»
together with the seven famous penitents who will be mentioned in
the next chapter. After the flood, this new renovator of the human
race, discriminated men, as Hindu authors say» into the different casts
which still prevail in India.

The name Manu deserves notice. Whatever may be the etymology
of the word, the similarity of sound seems to point out Manu to be
the same as the Menés of the ancient Egyptiaiis, and the great Noah
of the Scripture, who stands the highest in consideration and the most
venerable of mankind afler Adam.

( 35 )

CHAP. VI.

THE FABULOUS ORIGIN OF THE B RAHMANS. — ON THEIR NAME AMD ORIGINAL

FOUNDERS. CONJECTURES ON THEIR REAL ORIGIN.

X HE true origin of the Brahmans, as well as that of the other
Hindu tribes, is not distinctly known ; and we are therefore reduced
to fables or mere conjecture.

The fabulous tradition which is most current among them is that
which derives them from the head of Brahma ; and they draw their
name from his. The other casts, having sprung from the same stem,
would seem entitled to bear the same appellation. But the Brahmans
being the first, and emanating from the noblest part of their common
father, consider themselves exclusively entitled to that sacred name.

They also produce other claims to establish their sole right to this
venerable titlç. The Brahmans, they say, were the first to comprehend
Brahma in perfection ; and having the clearest conception of this great
being, it pertains to them only to explain his nature and attributes to
the other tribes. They alone have the distinguished privilege of
perusing the books that treat of this divinity; and, for these and
many other reasons not less conclusive, they assume the name of
Brahmans.

But, however well founded their pretensions may be to this great
distinction, certain it is, that they derive it from the word Brahma.
In the scientific languages of the country, they are called Brahmana
from which the name Bracmanes used by the Latin authors is undoubt-
edly derived.

A Brahman is in a very different situation from a Raja^ a Vaisya^ or
a Sudra. These are born in the condition in which they continue
jto live. But a Brahman becomes such only by the ceremony of the

P 2

35 FABULOUS ORIGIN OF THE BRAHMAN8.

Cord, which will be afterwards fully explained. He is till then only
a Sudra; and by bjrth he possesses nothing that raises him above
the level of other men. It is after this rite that he is called Dwija
(twice born). The first birth adniits him to the common rank of
mortals ; the second, which he owes to the ceremony of the triple
cord, exalts him to the lofty rank of the tribe to which he belongs.

The seven casts of the Brahmans have for their special origin the
seven famous Riihis or penitents. Two of these were not originally
of that rank ; but they practised so long and so severe a penance, that
they obtained the remarkable favour of being raised to it by the
ceremony of the cord. From penitent Rajas they became penitent
Brahmans ; and their rise was from a still lower rank, if we believe
what is sung upon the subject by the philosophical poet Vemanah.

These seven RUhis or penitents, of whom frequent mention will
be hereafter made, are highly celebrated in the annals of the country.
They are the holiest and most venerated personages that the Hindus
acknowledge. Their names are held sacred and are invoked by all the
people. They are inculcated on their children ; and are as follows :
KdsyapQj Atrij Bharadwajuj Oaviama^ ViswamUra^ Jafnadagni^ Fo-
sukta. It was Vamhta and Viswamitra that were considered worthy,
from the rigour of their penance, to be admitted into the cast of the
Brahmans.

It is certain that these seven Rishis were of great antiquity, since
they must have existed prior to the Vedas, which make mention
of them in many passages. They were J&voured by the gods, and
particularly by Vishnu, who preserved them at the time of the flood
from the universal destruction, by making them and their wives embark
in a ship in which he himself acted as the pilot.

Some of the gods have suffered not a little from incurring their
displeasure ; for even against them the wrath of the Rishis would pursue
evil conduct and infamous debauchery.

The seven penitents, after giving an example on earth of all the
virtues, were translated into heaven, where they still hold their place
among the most brilliant of the stars. Those who have a desire to
see them, have only to look up to the seven stars in the great bear ;

FABULOUS (»I01N OF THE BBAHMANS. 37

for these are no other than the seven famous Rishis themselves ; not
emblematically, but in strict reality. And it is believed that, without
ceasing to sparkle in the firmament, they can descend, and actually
do pay an occasional visit to the earth to know what is going on.

If the fabulous stories which are told of the origin of certain great
families in Europe shed a lustre upon them by proving their antiquity;
how much more reason has the Brahman to vaunt his noble pedigree ?
and if the honour of being sprung from an illustrious family, some*
times leads its descendants to look down with contempt upon the
lower ranks, we cannot surely wonder at the arrogance and haughtiness
of the Brahman, and the high disdain which he shews to every cast but
his own.

The idea of preserving the memory of their great men and of
making them immortal, by assigning them a place among the con-
stellations which shine in the sky, appears to be common to all ancient
tribes. The worship of the stars accordingly seems to have been uni-
versally and most religiously observed atnongst all idolatrous nations
ancient and modem. This species of idolatry being the least un-
reasonable of any, and of the longest duration, the lawgivers of
antiquity and the founders of false, religions, perceiving the powerfiil
hold which it had already acquired over the human mind, made use of
it as the most efficacious means of perpetuating the memory of their
heroes and other great men : for, by thus transforming them into stars,
they set them up as objects always to be seen, and always to strike
the observer. It was in this way that the Greeks and Romans con-
secrated their chief divinities and most celebrated heroes ; and it was
for the same purpose that the Hindus placed their seven famous Rishis
in the brightest zone of the starry sphere ; being sure that this was the
infallible method of keeping up their memory amongst a people in-
sensible to all objects but those that strike vividly on their senses.

But there is at least one thing which is not fanciful in this question \
which is that in the countries situated to the north-cast of Bengal,
beyond the Ganges, there were neither casts nor Brahmans till within
these four or five hundred years. The people who inhabited those
provinces, beginning then to see that it would be of advantage to them

^ CONJECTURES ON THE

to adopt the customs of their neighbours, demanded to have Brahmans»
The order was soon created by selecting and setting apart a number of
their youths, who were trained up in the manners of that cast ; into
which they were duly embodied by the ceremony of the cord. From
that period, they have been considered as true Brahmans, and hold
equal rank with those who are of a far more ancient order.

In the southern countries they do not like to be reminded of
this anecdote, although they are obliged to admit its authenticity, as
well as that of the two penitents who were at first only Rajas.

There is a puzzling objection frequently urged against the Brahmans.
If it be the ceremony of the cord, it is asked, that creates you
Brahmans, how come your wives, who do not undergo that ceremony,
to be any thing but Sudras ? You are therefore - married to wives not
belonging to your cast ; a principle held sacred and inviolable amongst
all Hindus.

Their solution of this difficulty is an answer that has been con*
tinually made to all their antagonists ; namely, that they are guided in
this particular by the usage of the cast firom time, immemorial.

After reporting what the fables of India afibrd respecting the
origin of the Brahmans, I wish to ofier, with deference, what appears
to me no improbable suggestion. What I am goipg to say may
perhaps appear of little weight to most of my readers : but I give
my opinion without arrogance, or the vain pretension of forming a
connected system, where all the documents that can be had, are
founded only on the most extravagant fables. My view of it may be
tolerated by those who in the midst of the thick darkness in which
the origin of nations is obscured, would rejoice in one spark that
might serve to guide their steps, and assist them in discovering what
at least approaches most nearly to truth.

It appears tolerably certain, that India has been peopled firom the
earliest times, and not long after the deluge, which converted the
earth into a vast desert. It is close to the plains of Shinar, where the
descendants of Noah remained fixed for a long time. Its happy
climate and fertile soil would naturally retain the wanderers who settled
there. I need say nothing of the subsequent conquests of Hercules,

REAL ORIGIN OF THE BRAHMANS. 39

Bacdtus, and Osiris. The best authorities hold them to be entirely
fabulous, though some are inclined to admit their history to be fun-'
damentally true, and content themselves with rejecting its extravagant
embellishments.

The history of Sesostris, though also abounding in fable, is evidently
more connected and better founded. The few monumnts of antiquity
that have descended to us, represent this celebrated hero as the
greatest, and indeed the only warrior that pacific. Egypt can boast pf
during its long career as an independent nation, extending to more
than sixteen hundred years. He is also described as the inost extensive
conqueror that ever existed on earth ; for the boundaries of his empire
embraced the enormous sweep between the Danube and all the nations
which then inhabited the provinces of India ; but his conquests there
turned out to be neither more secure nor more permanent than those
that were made, long afler, by his competitor in glory, Alexander
the Great.

The establishments which were made by the Arabians in India,
as they are represented by some modern writers, appear more plausible
to superficial minds. The restless disposition of that people, the
wandering life which they have always led, together with their vicinity
to India, would seem to give a colour of probability to this opinion.
Nay, its supporters may even add that it is from the Arabs that the
Hindus derive their division into casts, and that it still subsists among
the people of Arabia. But, in order to give weight to the supposition^
it would be necessary to prove that the division into casts has not
existed amongst all ancient nations, and equally to the Arab and the
Hindu.

It is not therefore through the channel of Egypt or Arabia that I
am inclined to introduce the Brahmans into India. I do not conceive
them to be the descendants of Shem, but of Japhet. I think it sup-
posable that they penetrated into the country by the north or the north*
west, and that we must seek for their origin in the long chain of
mountains, known in Europe by the name of Mount Caucasus.

Their books make frequent mention of two celebrated mountains
situated in the middle of Jambudwipa^ (which is their name also for the

40 OONJBCTURSS ON Tim

habitable world,) remotely situated beyond the most northern bounda-
*ries: of India. One of these mountains is designated by the name of
Maha Meru^ or Great Mem, and the other by that of Mount Man*
dara. Frequent allusions to these two mountains, or, as I conceive^
to the same under different names, are made in the prayers of the
]^ahmans, in their religious and civil ceremonies, and in the principal
occurrences of life. According to them and their books, this mountain
is situated in the remotest quarter of the north, and from its bosom they
still agree that their ancestors took their origin. This country, th^
tell us^ is so far distant, that its precise situation is unknown to the
modem Brahmans ; and that is not very surprizing in a country whose
inhabitants have so little knowledge of practical geography, that the
utmost reach of it extends only to the Countries between Kasi and
Cape Comorin.

It is in these retired regions of the north that they fix the residence

of the seven famous penitents of whom we have spoken, whom they

. consider as the first of their ancestors ; and from them proceeded

tibose descendants who gradually penetrated into the southern provinces

of India.

This notion of the first origin of the Brahmans deduced from the
Hindu books, and kept up to this day by the members of that cast, is
confirmed by the manner in which they treat one another. Those of
the north of India consider themselves to be more noble and of higher
distinction than those of the south; on the ground of their being less
distant from their original seat, and consequently their descent firom
the great fountain being less dubious.

The Seven Penitents, or Philosophers of the north, from whom they
spring, may have been the seven sons of Japhet, who, with their father
at their head, at the time of the dispersion of men, carried with them
the third part of the human race towards the west. The whole of that
family did not go over to Europe. Many of them having approached
its boundaries, turned towards the north, under the direction of
Magog, the second son of Japhet, and advancing through Tartary
as far as Mount Caucasus, formed considerable colonies in that wide
r^on.

REAL ORIGIN OF THS BRAHMANS. 41

I Am stating nothing here that is not conformable to the sense of
Scripture and the interpretation of judicious commentators ; out of
whose works it would be an easy matter to raise a vast pile of erudition.
Indeed I should have odcasion to go no farther than to what Bochart
and Calmet have written on the subject

The name of Magog may be traced among the Seven Penitents, from
whom the Brahmans say they are descended. It seems to arise from
that o( Gauta Maha. Ma or MaJha signifies gre(£t^ and GatUa is the
same as Got or Gog^ the a before a vowel and the final a being • both
elided in Sanscrit words : so that Gauta Maha, signifies the great Got.
or Magog, Magoth.

The history of other ancient people would supply me with conjee^
tures for supporting the opinion I have embraced on the origin and
antiquity of the Brahmans. The learned acknowledge several Frome--
theuses. The most famous was the Prometheus of Greece, whom they
consider to be the son of Japhet. He formed men from the soil, in
imitation of the gods, and animated them with the fire which he stole
from heaven. This boldness irritated Jupiter, who bound him to Mount
Caucasus, where a vulture constantly devoured his liver as it grew.
This grievous punishmeijit continued till Hercules slew the vulture, and
so delivered the son of Japhet. .

Was not Brahma the same as Prometheus ? The Indian god is also
called Brahma^ and Prume in some dialects. These names well accord
with the Prometheus of the Greeks. That is to say the god Promé or
Prume is the same' as Brahma. The latter as well as the former, is re-
garded as the author of the creation of men, who sprung from various
parts of his body. He was their lawgiver, by the Vedas which he
wrote with his own hand. He had more than once occasion for the aid
of Vishnu, as Prometheus had for that of Hercules, in order to be de-
livered from his enemies.

This claim of the Indian Prometheus to be recognized as the creator
of men and as a god, has descended, at least in part, to the Brahmans,
his eldest bom» They denominate themselves without ceremony5 and
take the title, wit]^out any ofience to their modesty, of the God$ Brah^

42 CONJECTURES ON THE

tnanSf the Gods of the Earth ; and on certain occasions they receive the
homage of being adored on bended knees, like deities.

Moreover, many learned authors, sacred and profane, have supposed
that Prometheus, who wished to be accounted the creator of men, was
no other than Magog himself. It is scarcely credible that at a period
so near to the flood, the oblivion of the true God should have been so
complete, as that the grandson of Noah should desire to pass for a god,
but there is nothing improbable in supposing that his descendants might
give him that title when idolatry had spread over the earth.

It was Magog that went to Tartary to establish himself there with such
as chose to accompany him, when he had separated from the other sons
of Japhet From thence, he or his sons, extended not only to India, but
to other countries which were the inheritance of Shem and his poster
rity. Thus was accomplished the prophecy of Noah, when he announced
to Japhet that his posterity should be the most numerous, and that he
should establish himself in the territory of Shem. ^' God shall enlarge
Japhet, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem." Gen. ix. 27.

But, granting.that the original natal soil of the Brahmans was Tar*
tary, or the environs of Mount Caucasus, it will not be easy to determine
the exact epoch of their establishment in India. It appears, however, that
they were there, and in a flourishing condition, more than nine hundred
years before the Christian aera ; for it is recorded that, about that time,
Lycurgus went to visit them. The high reputation they had already
acquired for learning, and particularly their skill in the occult sciences,
had spread even into Europe, and appears to have at that distance de^
termined one of the wisest and most profound philosophers that anti*
quity boasts of, to undertake a voyage into India to profit by the lessons
and the example of those wise Brahmans, who had been settled there for
ages. It is pretty clear that such a personage as Lycurgus was not
likely to risk so painful and tedious a voyage if the reputation of the
philosophers whom he went to consult had nqt been established long
before.

. The Brahmans of those remote ages were indeed very diflferent in
their principles and conduct from those of modern days. The former
are represented in the Hindu books chiefly (if not exclusively) in the

ftEAL ORIGIN OF THS BRAHMANS. 43

light of penitents or philosophers» devoted wholly to the culture of
scienœsy or to a life of contemplation and the practice of the moral vir-*
tues. They did not at that time form a tribe wholly intolerant and
exclusive, like the hermits of the present days. Neither could peni-
tents of a different origin become Brahmans, and be initiated into their
cast, by the ceremony of the Dakshina, or the investment of the triple
cord: of which various proofs may be shewn in the Hindu books.
. The simple and innocent manners of those early Brahmans, their
contempt of honours and wealth, their moral virtues, and above all their
temperance, raised them into respect amongst kings and people. For,
even the monarch did not conceive himself degraded by paying such
homage to them as he would not have exacted from his own subjects
for himself

Those philosophers, secluded as they were, had wives, and multiplied
exceedingly. The Brahmans of our days are their descendants. The
present race, though altogether degenerate from the virtues of their
ancestors, still preserve a great deal of their character and habits ; inas^
much as they shew to the present day a predilection for retirement and
seclusion from the bustle of the world, selecting for their residence vil-
lages quite retired, into which they permit no, person of any other
cast to enter. Those villages, inhabited by none but Brahmans,
are in great numbers in the present different divisions of the peninsula,
and are generally described under the name of the Agragrama or
superior villages.

The modern Brahmans approach nearer to the manners of their ances-
tors, by their frequent feasts, their daily ablutions, and the manner,
nature, and subject of their sacrifices ; and above all their scrupulous
abstinence not only from meat, and all food that has ever had the prin-
ciple of life, but also from many other productions of nature to which
their prejudices and superstition have attached some idea of impurity.

The religious system of the modem Brahmans, and the irrational theo*
logy which they have introduced into India, appear to me to be the parti-
culars in which they have chiefly departed from the rules and precepts
of their primitive founders. I am far from believing that the wise
legislators who prescribed laws for the Hindus could ever have formed

G 2

44 CONJECTURES ON TÉEE

an idea of introducing among them a species of worship so abominable
and so ridiculously absurd as that which we see in use amongst them at
the present time.

Their mythology and the external objects of their worship were at first
mere allegories, represented under visible shapes, for the purpose of
engraving them more vividly on the memory of a people who appeared
quite insensible to all objects that did not make an immediate im-
pression on the senses. But men of a gross, indolent, careless, and
superstitious disposition would naturally soon forget what the worship
signified, and attach themsdves exclusively to the material objects re-
presented in corporeal shape ; so that all perception of a latent meaning
would gradually vanish.

But I shall have occasion to return to this subject in the course of the
work. I shall only remark at present that, in my humble opinion, the
worship whidh prevails in India, as well as the mythology on which it is
founded, without excepting even the TrimurH^ and <!he Iraig tissue of
absurdities which accompany it in tibie books where they are detailed,
auch as the Four Vedoij the Eighteen PurandSy and other sacred com-
positions, are not of very ancient date. So far from ascribing to any of
them that high antiquity which modem writers have assigned to them,
I believe that the fables on which the present religious worship of the
Hindus is founded are of later invention than those of the Greeks.

The primitive religion of the ancient Brahmans appears to have been
altered and almost wholly perverted by their successors. The first
species of idolatry into which all nations fell as soon as they forgot the
traditions of their first ancestors, concerning the unity of God, and the
sole and exclusive worship which he requires fi'om all his creatures, was
the adoration of the stars and of the elements. It appears that this was
the worship that prevailed amongst the eremitical Brahmans or Peni-
tents,^ firom whom those of the present day take their rise. It was not
till long after their time, that their descendants, falling into the last
stage of idolatry, fashioned images or statues, which at first were merely
typical of the objects of their religion, but tvhich an ignorant race
began at last to worship. It was then that India split into various
schemes of religion, which subsist to the present times, and that bne

REAL ORIGIN OF THE BRAHMANS. 45

set embraced the fables of the Trimurti, and another the doptrines of
Buddha.

These two sects are probably of equal date. The one may have been
a corruption of the other : or both may have been drawn from the
purer religion of the ancient Brahmans. Some modem authors h^ve
imagined that the religion of Buddh or Buddha was anciently that pf all
India.and probably of all A^ia, frpm Siberia to Cape Comorin and the
Streights of Malacca, and from jthe Caspian Sea to the Gulph of Kamt;7
chatka. But, be this as it may, the \!^orship of Buddh pr BudcUia ap^
pears frilly as ancient as that of the Trimurti. It is well known that
the former specie» of idolatry 19 still in vigour and prevails in T^rtary,
in the two Thibets, and in China. It was introduced there froiQ. Slain
and not through Cape Comorin, as La Lpubere has demonstrated in \m
account of the kingdom of Slam. It is practised almost exclusively in
the kingdoms of Pegu, of Las, of Camboyia, of Japan, and probably
in all the countries beyond the Ganges. It extends al^ip to t]^e ^lan4
of Ceylon.. . i ■

Besides the worship c^ the Trimurti and th^t of Buddha, thq two
predominant religions in India, there exists a third, whjich, till lately,
had been but little known. It is that of the Jainas, which keeps aloof
from the rest, and equally detests the Brahmans and the BuddJ^ists^aud
their respective doctrines.

The Jainas maintain that the Trimurti and Buddhism, are both
modem innovations, of evil tendency, and corruptions of the primitive
religion of India, which they insist is exclusively maintained by them-
selves. They affirm that they are the only successors of the ancient
Brahman devotees, whose practice and doctrine Jthey preserve ; wjtiilst
the. modem Brahmans and the Buddhists are sadly tainted and dis-
figured by the introduction of monstrous innovations which have over-
run the country.

Thes^ innovations of the Brahmans Jn matters of religion wei^e not
introduced without a long and violent opposition on the part of the
Jainas. The latter assert|^ and the Brahmans admit, that the 3f al^man-
ical worship at present professed in the country was not received till
after a long and bloody war, in which the Jainas were subdued and

46Î CONJECTURES ON, àc.

reduced to the cruel necessity of submitting without reservation t&
whatever conditions their enemies the Brahmans chose to prescribe.
The Brahmanical system thus acquired the ascendant^ and perverted
the popular faith.

But whatever may be the pretensions of the Brahmans, the Jainas
and the Buddhists, concerning the antiquity of their religion and the
various points of doctrine in which they disagree, it appears extremely
probable that all three derive their origin from the same source. The
iiuidamental dogma of the metempsychosis, which is common to all
the three, and the worship which they equally pay to images, not dis*
similar in form, and which appear to be nothing else than allegorical
representations intended to pourtray to the external senses the object
of their original devotion ; exhibit a striking resemblance among them.
Their religious institutions also consist alike of priests, monks, and re^
ligious devotees ; they offer up in most cases the same species of sa-
crifice ; and the language used by the priests in the discharge of their
functions is also similar. This language is called Paliy and . is unques-
tionably employed by the Bonzes or priests of Buddha in the kingdom of
Siam, and derived from the Sanscrit, the only idiom used by the Brah-
mans and Jainas of the peninsula in their ceremonies. These and many
other points of coincidence among the three religions seem to leave
little doubt of their origin being the same.

The sect of the Jaipas, though much spread over several provinces of
the South of the peninsula, being but little understood by Europeans
till of late, I propose, in an Appendix to this work, to give a short
sketch of their doctrines and the principal points in which they differ
from their enemies the Brahmans. I would have been likewise desirous
to add a similar account of the doctrine of the Buddhists ; but not hav-
ing succeeded in obtaining authentic documents concerning that sect, it
is out of my power to satisfy the curiosity of my readers on that subject.
Persons residing in the island of Ceylon, where the religion of Buddha
prevails, might supply the defect which such an omission occasions in
my worL

( 47 )

CHAP. VIL

OF THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF BBAHMANS.

X HE tribe of Brahmans is divided into seven branches, each of which
recognises as its chief one of the famous penitents of whoni we have
spoken in another chapter ; and each Brahman knows from which of
the seven he is descended.

Another and a more general division separates them into four dis^
tinct classes, each of which appertains to one of the four Vedas.
These Vedas are four books held by them in such reverence that no
eye of any other cast has ever perused them. The Brahmans are so
jealous about this privilege, or rather they have so great an interest in
preventing the other casts from learning what these books contain, that
they have invented a story, which obtains universal belief all over the
country, that if a Sudra or any other of the profane should make an
attempt to read even the title of these sacred books his head would
instantly cleave asunder. They conceal them with the utmost care, and
never read them but in a low voice, and never but where they are sure
to be unseen. The least punishment that a Brahman would undergo
who should have the boldness or indiscretion to shew these sacred vo-
lumes to profane eyes, would be the expulsion from his tribe without
hope of ever regaining it. We shall afterwards resume the subject of
these books.

There are Brahmans denominated Yqjur Veda^ Sama Veda^ Rick

Veduj and Atharvana Veda. Of the last species there are very few,

and many people suppose they no longer exist. But the truth is, they

do exist though they conceal themselves with more caution than the

others, from the fear of being suspected to be initiated in the magic

4g OF THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF BRAHMANS«

mysteries and other dreaded secrets which this work is believed to
teach. Any one saying that he had it in his possession, would not
fidl on that ground alone, to be branded with the detested name of
a magician.

At the great sacrifice of the Yqjna to be afterwards described^
Brahmans of all the four Vedas assist.

The prayers which the members of this tribe are bound to repeat
three times daily, are taken firom those sacred books. They differ
somewhat, according to the Veda fi*om which they are taken ; each
Brahman extracting fi*om the Veda to which he is attached.

But in the intercourse of life, they appear to pay little attention to this
distinction of Brahmans by the Veda, nor to give the preference to one
Veda over another. Perhaps they are right in this; for if there be any
truth in what the author of the ^Aag^at;a/a says, (a poem famous over India,)
there was formerly no distinction of one Veda from another, and the
whole composed but one work. It was the penitent Vyasa who
divided them into four books. This same author of the Bhagavata has
supplied an introduction and commentary to render the text more in-
telligible. He ascribes also to Vyasa the eighteen Puranas; which,
it is well known, are eighteen rhapsodies, each more ridiculous than
another, giving a détail of the grossest fables of Hindu idolatry. *

Another race of Brahmans widely spread over the south of the
peninsula, is formed of individuals of that tribe who profess a par-
ticular veneration for Vishnu, and who bear imprinted on their fore-
heads the mark of his particular worship, which is formed of three
perpendicular lines joined at their base, and thus representing the
figure of a trident. The middle line is red or yellow, and those on
each side are painted with a piece of white earth, called Nama : and
it is firom this that the whole figure goes by the name of Nama.
Several casts of Ihe Sudras professing to do particular honour to
Vishnu, also wear the Nama inscribed on their foreheads in the same
manner as the Brahmans.

Those of the latter cast who bear the mark, are very numerous in
the southern provinces of the peninsula within the Krishna, where they
are generally known by the name of Vishnavansj which signifies

OF THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF BRAHMAltfS: 49

** devotees of Vishnu.'^ They are desirous of assuming an air jc^
superiority over the other casts of Brahmans, with whom they
refuse to eat or to form alliances; but it is in fact the «other casts that
reject them as being of a lower degree, on account of their associating
themselves with a particular sect. This is displeaâing to the Brahmans
in general, who being of a more liberal and tolerftnt disposition, give
equal honour to the three great divinities of India without preferring
one to the others. We shalt speak farther respecting this species of
Brahmans in the following chapter.

The Brahmans called Saiva are the most despised of any belonging
to this tribe. They appear to make a distinct biEind among themiselves,
and to admit the superiority of the others. They are employed in
many places as servants in the temples, to wash the idols, and bring up
the offerings of incense, of flowers and fruits, of boiled rice and other
things which are presented by the devout, and form the materials for
the sacrifice.

In many pagodas the Sudras are employed in the same manner, as
sacrificers. This office is assigned to them exclusively in the temples
where fowls, sheep, hogs, buffaloes, and other living creatures are im-
molated. It is probably by exercising this kind of service in the
temples, that the Saiva Brahmans have fallen into such contempt.
A servile office, which even a simple Sudra has the right to perform,
is degrading in their estimation. The employment of Pvjari or
sacrificer to a temple is not held very honourable amongst the
Hindus, and the occupations carried on by such individuals are con-*
sidered as purely servile. But where there is no other resource, -a man
has no choice. ^^ To serve his belly, a man will play any game."
Such is the favourite proverb of the Brahmans, which serves them for
an excuse under all circumstances where their conduct is opposite to
* their principles, and particularly in the case before ns.

I will say nothing of those who are called in derision FUsh Brahmane
and Fish Brahmans. I have been assured that, in the north of India, and
even on the Malabar coast, there are some of them who would eat of
both, publicly and without scruple. And it is added, that this conduct,
brings no reproach upon them from the Brahmans who abstain. But

OF THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF BRAHMANS.

whether this be so or not, it is certain that if Brahmans who eat meftt
and fish were toiappear in the southern provinces, and were detected^
the Brahmans of the place would peremptorily refuse to eat with them,
and would expel them out of their society, > Whether those * in , the
south have refined on the practice, or whether the others have dege^
nerated fi'om the rules of their early ancestors, I will not attempt to
decide. The second supposition, however, would appear to be the
more probable, because the usages of the Brahmans, particularly as
relating to abstinence fi'om. flesh meat, are less difiicult in the obser-
vance in the warm countries of the south than they are in the cold or
temperate regions of the north, ,

( 51 )

CHAP. VIIL

OF THE SECTS OF rXSlKSrir AND SIVA, — CAUSES OF THE OPPOSITION OF THE ORDINART
BRAHltANS TO THE riSBNU BRAHMANS AND OTHER SECTARIES.

X HE great body of Hindus profess to pay equal honours to all the
gods of the country, particularly the three principal pnes, Brahma^
Vishnuy and 5ii?a, without any preference of one to another. But
great shoals of sectaries are likewise found among them, of whom
some attach themselves exclusively to the worship of Vishnu, and
some to that of Siva. The former are very generally known by
the appellation of Vishnu Bater or Bhdktaru^ which signifies devotees
of Vishnuj and the other by that of Siva Bhaktam or devotees of Siva,
These are also called Lingadharij and the devotees of Vishnu Nama^
dhari. These last appellations are taken from the marks of distinction
which each of the parties bears. That of the Vishnuvites is the Nama
and is traced on the forehead, as has been described in the preceding
chapter. On the other hand, that of the partisans of Siva is called
the Linga, which they wear sometimes stuck in the hair or attached to
the arm in a small tube of gold or silver; but it is more frequently
seen hanging by a' riband from the neck, and deposited in a. silver box
which dangles on the breast

Nothing can be imagined more infamous than this abominable token.
We shall not describe it here, as we shall have occasion to notice it
in another chapter, .and as.wé_ are : unwilling to stain the pages of
our work by the repetition of impudent fooleries which disgust good
sense, and inflict a wound on modesty.

In place of the Nama^ some devotees of Vishnu content them-
sdves with drawing in a particular way a ' single perpendicular line
of red do wa the middle of the forehead; and instead of the Z^tn^o^

H 2

•

THE SECT OF ViSHNU. •

some of the devotees of Siva are satisfied with rubbing the forehead
and some other parts of the body with the ashes of cow dung.

Vishnu's worshippers are met with in great numbers in all the pro-
vinces of the peninsula of India, and are known by the several names
of Andhra, Dasaru, Purushutama, Ramanuja, Bhikhari, and some more.

Besides the Nama, the least ambiguous mark of this sect^ the
greater number of its members may be discovered by the fantastic dress
which they wear. Their clothes are always of the deepest yellow, bor-
dering Upon red. Many of them wear across their shoulders for a
doak, a kind of particoloured garment formed of patched work of all
colours. The turban with which they cover the head is likewise made
up of doth c^i three or four tints, braided with each odier. Some, in-
stead of the clothing we have mentioned^ hatig a tyger's skin over their
riioulders, wbidh reaches the ground. The most of them adorn their
hecks with several rows of necklaces of black beads of the size of
a niit.

.Besides their ridiculous dress, which frequently resembles that of
Hariequin in a European pantomime, the disciples of Vishnu, when
they travel or go a begging, equip themselves with a round plate of
brass, about a foot in diameter, and a large shell called Sankha, shaped
like a sea conch ; with either of which they can make a suffident noise
to announce their approach from afar. With one hand they beat upon
the brass plate with a stick, which makes a. sound like a bell, and at the
6ame time they apply the sankha to their mouth with the other hand^
and by blowing into it they raise a sound sharp and always monotonous.
, îThese two last mentioned articles, the sankha and the drcular plate of
brass, are always seen in the hands of that portion of the devotees of
yishnu who make it their profession to solicit alms, and indeed are a
àoTt of religious mendicants.

'f. These religionists of Vishnu, also, for the most part, wear a plate of
i^pper on the breast, on which is engraved the image of Hanuman^ or
some one of the Avatars^ or incarnations of their god. Besides this,
many of them have numbers of little bells hung from their shoulders,
and sometimes fastened on their legs, the tinkling of which announces
ihdr approach from a; distance. Some of them add to all this apparatus

TBB SECT OF VISHNU; 53

ah iron ring which they carry on- their shoulders, at each side of which
a chafing-dish of the same metal is suspended, for the purpose of carry-
ing the fire which they use in burning the incense when they sacrifice.

The principal business of the devotee of Vislmu is to seek alms. It
is a privilege inherent in the sect ; and in general, throughout India,
every person of the religious calling exercises that profession as matter '
of right

It is chiefly when they go on a pilgrimage to some holy place that
these religious beggars make use of this right. Sometimes one meets
them in troops of more than a thousand : and in the districts through
which they pass, they spread themselves in the different villages, where
each of the inhabitants gives lodging to several of them{ l;y which
means they savç the expence of travelling. In other circumstances,
also, they generally go in bands to solicit alms, but not .in s\ich numbers
as in their travelling excursions.

In all cases they demand alms with insolent audacity,, and often with
threats, as a matter which is their due. When they are not readily served
they redouble the uproar, setting up shouts all at once, beating on the
sonorous plate of brass, and exciting harsh and shrill sounds from their
sankha. If all this fails of. success, they sometimes enter into the
houses, break the earthen dishes, and overturn every thing within their
reach. •

It is commonly in a dance that these religious beggars ^ply for
alms, singing hymns. in honour of their gods, and istiU more frequently
indecent songs.

The devotees of Vishnu, and particularly the religious beggars of that
sect, are detested by the people in general, chiefly on account of their
intemperance. One would imagine that they give themselves up to
that vice from as spirit of contradiction to their opponëilts the Linga-
mites, whose extreme moderation in eating and drinking equals» if it
does not surpass, that of the Brabmans, in imitation of whom they ab-
stain fi-om all animal food. The sectaries of Vishnu, on the contrary,
eat publicly of all sorts of meat, excepting that of the cow, and drink
toddy, arrack, and all other liquors that the country supplies, without
shame or restraint

54 THE SECT OF VISHNU.

^ ' They are reproached also with other vices of this sort,, and in parti*
eular with being the chief promoters of that abominable sacrifice known
by the name of Sati or Saktupuja^ of which we shall say more here-
after.

Among the objects of worship held in the highest veneration by the
Vishnu devotees, are the Ape, the Monkey, the bird called Garuda,
and the serpent Capella. One would expose himself to serious conse^
quences who should be imprudent enough to kill or even to maltreat in
their presence any of those animals. A man so offending would be
forced to expiate his crime by the ceremony or sacrifice called the
Pahvahdam.

The l^ahyahdam is known to very few, as I believe, and is therefore
entitled to a: short description. It is a ceremony peculiar to the sect of
Vishnu, and they resort to it only in circumstances of the weightiest
kind, such as the necessity of expiating the crime of causing the death
of any of the animals which are the objects of their worship ;, or for
obtaining reparation for some breach of honour occasioned by any deep
injury which an individual of their tribe may have received from some
other person, and which would be felt as redounding to the disgrace of
the sect if it remained unpunished. The Fahvahdam is a ceremony of
the most serious kind, since it demands no less than the sacrifice of a
human victim, and its* resuscitation afterwards.

As soon as it is publicly known that any one has given occasion for
the Fahvahdam, by any of the crimes that have been mentioned, or by
any deep insult cast upon the sect, the votaries crowd from all quarters
to the place where the culprit resides, and having assembled to the
number sometimes of more than two thousand, each bringing his sound-
ing plate of brass, and his sankha or great shell, they proceed to the
ceremony. The first step is to arrest the person who is the cause of
their assembling, and then they spread a tent at a small distance, which
is immediately encompassed with several ranks of partisans assembled
for the occasion.

The chiefs having selected from the multitude a fit person who con-
sents to become the victim for sacrifice, exhibit -him to the crowd of
people collçctçd from all parts to witness the sight A small incision is

THE SECT OF VISHNU.

then made on his bellj^, deep enough for the blood to flow ; upon which
the pretended victim shams a fainting fit^ tumbles on the ground, and
counterfeits death. He is then carried into the tent which is fitted to
receive him» and is there laid out as a corpse.

Of the great concourse of people gathered together, part watches
night and day round the tent, which nobody is suffered . to approach ;
while aiDother division surrounds the house of the individual who hasgiveh
occasion for the ceremony. Both parties raise continual criés andiHght-
fill bowlings, which being mixed with the clanking soUnd of the brazen
plates and the shrill squeak of the sankha, produce a confusion and up-
roar, in the midst of which it is almost impossible to exist. This over-
whelming disorder continues without interruption till the person who
was the cause of it pays the fine imposed upon him, which generally
exceeds his means.

In the meantime the inhabitants of the village and of the neighbour-
hood finding it impossible to live in the midst of the confiision and
disorder occasioned by the fanatical crowd, come to terms with the
chiefs and pay at least a part of what has been required of the culprit,
in order to obtain a speedy termination to the Puhvahdam^ and to in-
duce the great multitude to go to their homes.

The chieÊi, when satisfied, repair to the tent to conclude the cere-
mony, which is effected by restoring to life the pretended dead man,
who lies stretched out before them. For this purpose they chuse one
of their number, and, making an incision in his thigh, they collect the
blood which runs firom. it and sprinkle the body of the sham corpse,
which being restored by the efficacy of this simple ceremony is delivered
over alive to those who assist at it, and who have no doubt whatever
of the reality of the resurrection.

Afl^er this ceremony, for effacing all traces of the crime or the affront
which had been, complained of, the fine is laid out in a grand entertain-
ment to all the persons present ; and when that is over, the whole of
them quietly return to their homes.

It is not very long since the Fahvahdam was celebrated in a solemn
manner in a village next to that where I lived. The cause firom which
it originated was, that an inhabitant of that village had cut down (with-

56 "WïîS SECT OF SIVA.

out being aware of it, as it is sakl) a tree or shrub called Kakktatf-mara^
which produces yellow flowers, and to which the sectaries of Vishnu
offer up adoration and sacrifices.

The sect of Siva is not less widely spread than that of Vishnu. It
beats rule over severed provinces, of the peninsula. On the west, to the
yvhole extent of diat long chain of mountains which make theis^ara*
tion between the countries called by the Europeans by the generic
natne of Malabar and Coromandel, the Lingamites or devotees of Siva
compose at least* half the population, over a space of two or three
hundred miles from north to south.

This sect has several customs'peculiar to itself. In common'with.the
Brahmabs it will oh no account partake of animal food or of any thing
that has enjoyed the principle of life, such as eggs, or of many of the
simple productions of nature. They agree with the greater part of the
other tribes in burying their dead and not burning them. But they
difibr from the most of them in not admitting the principles so ge-*
nerally adopted among all the other Casts respecting uncleatiness,
and particularly that which is incident to women by child-birth,
and periodical occurrences, or by the death and funeral of any
relation ; as well as in some other domestic, regulations parti-
cular to themselves, in which they seem to be at variance with
the manner of living and the customs generally observed by the
other Hindus.

Their disregard of the rules regarding uncleanness and the decent
propriety of conduct, so religiously observed among all the other tribes,
has given rise to a proverb which circulates in the country, the mean-^
ing of which is that there is no river for a Lingamite ; alluding to the
people of that sect hardly in any case acknowledging tbe merit and vir-
tue of the ablutions practised by the other Hindus.

The Ungamites, as well as the Vishnuvites, have* amongst them a
great number of religious beggars under the names of Pandahram^
Wodyaruy Jangamuj and several others. The greater part of these devo-
tees of Siva have no other means of living but by alms, which they
demand in bodies ; with the exception of a few who live retired in
àlàta$9 which are a species of convents usually having some lands at-

SECTS OF VISHNU AND SIVA. ffj

tached to them, the produce of which, together with the offenngf^
brought by the devotees of their sect, serve them for sustenance.: i

The dress of the penitents of Siva scarcely differs from that of the devo-
tees of Vishnu, both being clothed in a way equally fantastical and ridicur
lous. The colour of their garments is also the Cahvy ; that is a very
deep yellow inclining to red. This colour is worn in general not only
by the devotees of Siva and Vishnu, but also by all those who make re*
ligion a profession; by the Fakirs,- Gurus, and all the Indian clergy,
as uniformly as black is worn by the clergy of Europe.

The devotees of Siva have, nevertheless, some particular marks of dis-
tinction, (independent of the Linga which they always wear) by which
they* are easily known. Of this kind are the strings of large beads
called Rudraksha, of the size and nearly of the shape and colour of a
nutmeg, which they suspend at their, necks, and the ashes of cowrdung
with which they daub thé forehead, the arms and several other parts of
the body. • \

Among the objects of their worship, the two principal are the Linga
and the Bidl, of which we shall afterwards speak at greater length.

Although the children commonly embrace the sect of their fathers;
yet they are not by right of birth alone, entitled to become Vishnuvites
or Lingamites ; they are not admitted into the sect of their parents
until a certain age, and they are then associated- by the Guru of the
sect, who administers to the candidates the ceremony of the Dîkshâ^
'which means initiation. This solemn ceremony of the Dîkshâ, is
a species of baptism amongst the Hindus ; and, indeed, the Christians
in India give baptism the name of Jnâna Dîkshâ or spiritual initiation!.
'The ceremony we have been describing consists in pronouncing over
the novice sevrai Mantras or prayers, adapted to the occasion, and in
whispering in his ear certain secret instructions. But the whole is
done in a language generally not understood by the Guru himself who
presides at the ceremony. After the Diksha, the newly initiated acquire
a perpetual right' to all the privileges belonging to the sect into which
they are admitted.

' Peisons of any cast may be admitted into the sect of Vishnu, and
,then they may. bear the Nama on the forjehead, which is its distin-

5g ^SBCTS OF VISHNtJ AND SJVA.

guishiDg mark. Even the Pariahs^ or any of the vilest tribes belongs
ing to them^ will not be rejected.

I conceive also that all persons without distinction, may be permitted
to join with the sect of Siva ; but as those initiated there must renounce
for ever all animal food and inebriating liquors, a condition too hard to
be easily submitted to by the low casts who are accustomed to those
indulgences, we do not often see in the sect of Siva any other thaqi the
best easts of the Sudras. There are some Pariahs in certain places, but
they are very few in number. It is a common thing to see apostates
gomg over from one of these sects to the other, as their int^est
prompts them ; and some from spite or caprice.

Either of these casts will admit freely «ad without any examination
such of the extraneous Hindus as shew a desire to be incorporated with
them.

In some casts of the Sudras a lingular peculiarity in this respect may
be observed, where the husband belongs to the sect of Vishnu and bears
the madk of the Nama, while the wife adheres to the sect of Siva and
shews the Linga. The husband eats animal food ; while the woman is
absolutely debarred from it. But this difference of religion between t]^
husband and wife, disturbs in no degree the peace of the £unUy or tï^k
conju^ happiness. Both follow quietly thdr separate modes of reli«-
gion, and adore in their own manner the god they have severally chosen,
without any disposition to contend with each other on the subject.

In other cases we see the two sects striving to exalt the respective
deities whom they worship and to revile those of their opponents. The
followers of Vishnu maintain that it is to the providence c^th^ir god that
we owe the preservation of whatever exists in the/ universa They say
it is to him that Siva owes hi^ birth and being, and that Vishnu has
preserved him in many perils, which would otherwise have involved
him in utter perdition. They vehemently insist that he is far superior
to Siva and is alone worthy of all honour.

The disciples of 5îz;ci, on the contrary, no less obstinately afiirm that
Vishnu is nothing, and has never done any act but tricks so base as to
provoke shame and indignation. They confirm these assertions by some
particulars in the life of that deity, which their adversaries cannot deny.

SECTS OF VISHNU JÙW SIVA. 59

nsA which certttnly do not redound to his credit. They hold that Siva
is the only sovereign lord of all things that exist) and that he alone is
entitled to our praises.

According to the Vishnuvites> one cannot fall into a deq[ier sin than by
wearing ihe Linga or mark of Siva : while^ according to the votaries of
this god, all who bear the Nama shall be tormented in hell, when they
die, with a three pronged fork in the shape of that emblrai.

It is a very common ^tiling to see disputes and altercati<ms amongst
these sectaries, of great vehemence, respecting the pre-eminence of their
respective gods. These religious quarrels are generally fomented by
the bands of vagabond fanatics, those religious mendicants who are to
be found in crowds through the whole extent of the country.

In the throngs in which they frequently assemble to support the dig-
nity of their respective gods, their fanaticism on some occasions rouses
them to such a pitch that when they are tired out with pouring every
species of abuse upon each other, and voiding the most abominable
blasphemies against the deity they oppose, they sometimes -come tor
blows,- and the religious controversy ends in a fi^t, in which there is
rarely much spilling of blood, but a good belabouring with fisticuffs on
both aides, the scattering-of many turbans, and the tearing of much
apparel into rags. Thus the fray generally ends, without spirit .onr
either side to carry it to extremities.

But it is in the naturally timid and indolent character of the Hindu
that we are to seek for the true cause why these holy wars do not over^
spread the whole land, or produce the dreadful excesses of every kind
which religious phrenzy has occasioned in Europe, and in other riions,
for so many ages. . Or perhaps there is a still more powerful reason to
be found in the indifierence of most of the people to all forms of wor-
ship, which allows them to give equal honour to Vishnu aiid to Siva,
without any concern about either, and at the same time disposes them
to interfere between the religious combatants, and to mitigate the dis-
putes in their origin.

But, nevertheless, if .we are to give any faith to a tradition, very ge^
neral in many province^, it is scarcely to be doubted that, even in
recent times, there have been waged in many parts of the peninsula»

I 2

QQ . RELIGIOUS DISTINCTIONS;

general wars upon religion, excited by vast numbers- of fanatics who
overran the country, and fomented also, as it. is believed, to the
utmost of their power, by the Rajas and other princes, who supported
sometimes the one sect and sometimes the other, as their interest re-
quired, and became Vishnuvite or Sivite, and mounted the Lingaor
the Nama, as best suited their temporal concerns.

Those who are acquainted with the nature of the. Vairagi and of
the Gosain in the north of the peninsula, of the Dasaru and the Jaih-
gama of the South, will readily believe that it would still be an easyr
matter for two ambitious princes to arm, in the name of the gods and
of religion, those bands of fanatics, from one end of the country to the
other, impelling them to deluge the land with blood, unfurling the
standard oî Hamman on one side, and that of Baswa on the other, and
persuading them that they ware cutting each others throats for the in-'
terest of religion. .

^ In the more limited contests about religion which actually take place^
the Vishnuvites appear the most violent and most bigotted. They are
almost always the aggressors ; and the Sivites in general appear more
peaceable and tolerant.

' The generality of the Hindus, and above all the* Brahmans, take no
part whatever in those religious dissensions. The system of the latter
is to hold in equal reverence the principal divinities of the country ;
and although, upon the whole, they. appear more inclined to the wor-
ship of Vishnu, they never pass a day without ofiering up in their
houses a sacrifice to the linga, the idol of Siva.

, " The Vishnuvite Brahmans, making profession of honouring Vishnu,, if
not exclusively, at least with a visible partiality, and upon many occa-
sions expressing their contempt for Siva, it is not surprizing that the tole-
rant party should look down upon them with eyes of contempt as a set
of men that, by a marked adherence to such a sect, appear to place
themselves on a level with the ofiscourings of the Sudras. i .

That which lessens them the most in the esteem of persons of their
own tribe is the afiectation of appearing in public. with, the figure of
Nama. engraved on their .foreheads, which we have, already, seen is the
distiRctivebadgeof the followers of Vishnu* : This symbol is. uniformly

fiSLIGIOUS DISTINCTIONS. gl

adopted by alL the members of this sect^ whatever their cast or origin
may be. But, to assume for an ornament a token which persons of *the
lowest extraction, without excepting even the Pariahs, may wear, seems
to the true Brahmans a self-abasement and a voluntary degradation to
the level of those who are otherwise so much beneath them.

The same distance whidi the tolerant Brahmans observe towards the
Vishnuvite Brahmans would be extended also to the Lingamite Brahmans
if there were many of that persuasion. For my own part, I have never
met with any of them, and I do not believe that there are any to be
found in- the South of the peninsula, from the banks of the Krishna to
Cape Comorin. Yet I have been informed (though not in a way to
put the matterout of all doubt) that there are certain cantons in the
North of, the peninsula where Sivite Brahmans are to foe founds bear-'
ing the mark of the Linga like all other individuals of the cast.

The Vishnuvite Brahmans are not met with but in the Southern, pro-
vinces of India situated .on this side of the Krishna. None are seen
bevond that river. . i . ^

The contempt which the tolerant Brahmans manifest for thé Vish-
nuvite Brahmans is not wholly confined to them : the same feeling; of
aversion being universal^against this class of Brahmans, whom I never
heard mentioned but in terms of reproach and contempt. I do :not
conceive, however, the feeling of dislike for them on the part of the
Sudras can have arisen out of the special attachment of that class of
Brahmans to the sect of Vishnu ; but that it is rather to be ascribed^to
their extreme haughtiness and their insolent b^aviour to all othà*
tribes. And though t^e vices imputed to them are common to the
whole Brahmans, yet it is universally observed that they belong to the.
Vishnuvite cast of them in ahigher degree than to the others. ... ; jj

But, however that may be, it is certain that this sect of . Brahmansr
ttands aloof from the rest. The tolerant Brahmans do not admit* then;
to their tables or to their ceremonies; and they, , in their tiim, axe lex^
eluded under the same circumstai^ces, by the Vishnu vites. The-fes^.
trangement and distrust which they mutually ente;rtain is visiblerki;the:
whole intercourse of society. The tolerant Brahmans^ iwheiiiiûpipàiiier^;
invest the Vishnuvite Brahmans with no employments of trust, and they

( 64 )

CHAP. IX.

OP THÉ GURUS OR PRIESTS OF INDIA.

X HE word Guru properly means master; whence fathers and mothers
are sometimes called Mahd-gurus^ or great masters of their families ;
kings the Gurus of the kingdom, and masters Gurus of their servants.

But the appellation is specially applied to certain persons of dis-
tinguished rank who attain a character of sanctity, which invests
them with power both spiritual and temporal. The latter consists
chiefly in a superintendance over the different casts, by inforcing the
due observance of their general and particular customs, and punishing
the refractory. They have also the power of expelling from the tribe,
and of restoring those who had been expelled.

Besides this temporal authority, which is never called in question,
they possess an equal extent of spiritual jurisdiction. The sashtanganiy
or prostration of the eight members, is made before them, and when
followed by their benediction, or asirvadam^ is effectual for the re-
mission of all sins. The look even of a Guru has the same efficacy.
Their prasadam^ or present, which they confer upon their disciples,
consists in some matter otherwise of small value, such as a portion of
cow-dung ashes, to beautify the forehead, flowers that were previously
offered up to the idols, the crumbs from their meals, or the water in
which they had washed their feet, which is preserved and sometimes
drank by those who receive it. These and other things of the like
nature, or indeed whatever comes from their holy hands, possess the
virtue of purifying body and soul from all uncleanness.

But if the benediction of the Gurus and the other little tokens of their
favour, which they bestow on their disciples, have so wonderfiil an

THE GURUS OR PRIESTS. 65

influence in attracting the respect and reverence of the silly populace ;
their curse, which is not less powerful, fills them with terror and awe.
The Hindu is persuaded that it never fails to take effect, whether
justly or unjustly incurred. Their books are full of fables which seem
invented for the express purpose of inspiring this belief; and, to, add
greater force to it, the attendants of the Guru, who are interested in
the success of the impostor's game, do not fail to recount many
marvellous stories respecting him, of which they pretend to have been
eye-witnesses ; and to avoid any possibility of detection, they lay the
scene of the miracles in some distant country.

Sometimes they tell of a person struck dead on the spot by the
curse of the Guru : sometimes of one suddenly seized with a shivering
through every joint, which goes . on, and will never cease until the
malediction is stayed. At other times it is a pregnant woman whom
they describe as miscarrying by it ; or a labourer, perhaps, that was
doomed to see all his cattle perish in a moment.

Nay, I have heard from these men stories stiU more ridiculous, and
given with the utmost gravity ; of a man, for example, being changed
into a stone, and of another converted into a hog by their Guru's
malediction.

The silly Hindu gives implicit credit to such tales, and therefore it
is not surprising that he should carry his dread and reverence for his
Guru to the most extravagant pitch. He naturally avoids whatever
may be displeasing to him ; ançl rather than incur the awful danger of
his anathema, a Hindu has been known to sell his wife or one of his
children, having nothing else to part with, to procure for his Guru the
tribute or presents which he unmercifully exacts.

£ach cast and sect has its particular Guru. But all of them are
not invested with an equal degree of authority. There is a gradation
^.mong the Gurus themselves, according to the dignity of the casts they
belong to, and a kind of hierarchy has grown up among them, which
preserves the subordination of one to another. In short there is an inferior
clergy, very numerous in every quarter, while each sect has its par-
ticular high priests, who are hut few in number. TJie inferior. Gurus
pay them obedience, and derive their power from the superior authority

(56 THE GURUS OR PRIESTS.

of the priests» who can d^K>se them at pleasure, and appoint others in
their room.

The place of residence of the Hindu Pontiffs is commonly called Sing-
hoMna which signifies a throne. There are several of these episcopal
sees, as they may be called, in the different provinces of the peninsula.
The different casts, and each sect, have their own Smghasana and their
particular pontifik. Thus, for example the Brahmans of the sect called
Smarta submit to one, that of Tadvati to another, and that of the
Vishnuvite Brahmans to a third.

In the sect of Vishnu and in that of Siva die higher and lower
clergy are innumerable. Each subdivision of the two sects has its pon-
tiff and corresponding iGrurus. Among the Vishnuvites, the single sect
of Sri-vashtumo has no less than four Singhasanas or episcopal sees, and
seventy two Pithas or Pondamsj places of residence of the inferior Gurus ;
without reckoning à great number of a lower rank, who spread over the
country to extend their visits to every place within their bounds.

The other subdivisions of the same sect have in like manner their Gu*-
rus in great abundance.

In the sect ef Siva, also, each subdivision has its Singhasana or epis-
copal seat and its Pitha or places of residence of the inferior clergy.
The Gurus of this sect are known by the names of Pandahram^ Janga^
mas^ and others, according to the different idioms of the places.

• The pontiffs and all the clergy of thé sect of Siva are taken out of
the tribe of Sudra ; but the greater part of the high Gurus of Vishnu
are Brahmans of Vishnu, who ordain the inferior clergy pertaining to
the sect.

It is the Brahmans also who are most frequently the pontiffs among
the tolerant Hindus, that is to say, such as are attached neither to the
sect of Vishnu nor that of Siva.

The pontiff or Guru of a cast or sect has no authority out of it. In
any other sect they would disregard his Prasddam, his blessing and
his curse. There are but few instances therefore of amy attempts at
such an intrusion.

Besides the Gurus that pertain to the different tribes and sects, great
personages, such as kings and princes, have them of their own, attached

THE GURUS OR PRIBSTS. ffj

to their households and accompanying them wherever they go. Every
day they present themselves before their Guru» and receive his blessing
and Prasadam. When they are engaged in any dangerous enterprizet
the Guru generally tarries behind. On such occasions he contents him-
self with loading the great man with blessings and offering him some
little hallowed gifts, which are received and kept as a precious relic,
havmg the power to avert aU evils that might otherwise happen in the
absence of the Guru.

The princes take a pride in entertaining these associates ^whom they
call their chaplains) with the greatest magnificence. They invest them
with a splendour which sometimes eclipses their own. Besides the
presents which they fi-equently bestow, for the support of their rank
and dignity, they also assign them land estates of considerable revenue
for their ordinary expences.

The great Giunis never appear in public without the utmost degree
of pomp ; but it is when they proceed to a visitation of their district
that they are seen surrounded with their whole splendour. They com-
monly make the procession on the back of an elephant, or seated in a
rich palanquin. Some of them have a guard of horse, and are sur-
rounded with numerous troops both cavalry and infantry, armed with
pikes and other weapons. Several bands of musicians precede them,
playing on all the instruments of the country. Flags in all the varie-
ties of colour wave round them, adorned with the pictures of their
gods. Some of their officers take the lead, singing odes in their praise,
or admonishing the spectators to be prepared to pay the mighty Gruru,
as he comes up, the honour and reverence which are due to him. In-
cense and other perfumes are burnt in profusion ; new cloths are
spread before him on the road. Boughs of trees, forming triumphal
arches, are expanded in many places on the way through which he
passes. Bands of young women, or the. dancing girls of the templets,
relieve each other, and keep up with the procession, enlivening it with
lewd songs and lascivious dances. *

* The custom of having Criers on such solemnities to make their proclamations of praise
before all great personages when they appear in public is common through all India. They
repeat with a loud voice, or sing, the renown of their masters, with a long diqilay of thdr

K 2

THE GURUS OR PRIESTS.

This pompous shew attracts a crowd of people, who throng to pros-*
tratè themselves before the Guru. After paying their adoration, they
join in the train and make the sky resound with their shouts of joy
• during the whole course of the ceremony.

I shall not be understood to mean that every Guru meets with a re-
ception like this, as it is only the pontifis or Gurus of the first order
that are accompanied with this extraordinary state. Those of inferior
degree proportion their pomp to their narrower means. The common
Gurus of the sect of Vishnu, known by the name of Va^htumah, are
generally mounted on a sorry horse, and some are even reduced to the
necessity of travelling on foot. The wealthiest of the Gurus of the
sJBct of Siva, called Jangama or Pandakram, sometimes go on horseback
and sometimes in a palanquin. But the greater number are mounted
on bullockïi, the favorite animal of this sect.

The Gurus, in general, rank as the first and most distinguished order
of. society. Those who are elevated to this great dignity, receive in
most cases, marks of reverence or rather of adoration which are not
rendered even to the gods themselves. But this is not sui'prising when
it is understood that the power of controuling the gods is generally attri-
buted to them, by which it is supposed they have the means of obtain-
ing whatsoever the deities can bestow. i.

- The Gurus generally make a tour from time to time among their
disciples, perhaps in a circle of two hundred leagues round their. place '
of residence. During this visitation, their principal, and I may say their
only object, is to amass money. Besides the fines which they levy from
persons guilty of offences or any breach of the ceremonies of the cast
or sect, they often rigorously exact from their adherents a tribute to

iUustrious birth, exalted rank, unbounded power and high virtues, and counsel all who
hear them to pay the honours due to such illustrious men.

It appears from sacred and profane authors that a custom still prevalent amongst the great
in India was in use amongst other ancient people. Gen. xli. 43. Among the honours paid
by Pharaoh to Joseph, " he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had ; and
** they cried before him. Bow the knee." In Esther, vi. 8. " Bring him on horseback
<< through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the
<< man whom the king delighteth to honour.''

THE GURUS OR PRIESTS. QQ

the utmost extent of their means. This method of collecting money
they denominate Pador-Kanikai^ which signifies an offering at the feet.
Nor can any person, however distressed, evade the payment of the
Fada-Kanikai to the Guru. There is no affront or indignity which
the Gurus are not disposed to inflict on any disciple, who fails, either
fi-om inability or unwillingness, to produce the sum at which he is
rated. Rather than relax in the smallest degree from their extortion,
they compel them to approach in a humiliating attitude, load them
with reproach and abuse before the multitude, and order mud or
cow-dung to be flung in their faces. If this ignominious treatment
does not succeed, they insist on being supplied with a person to work
for them during a certain period, or till the sum is paid. G^rus have
been known, in cases where a man was unable to pay the amount of
his tax, to force him to deliver up his wife, to be kept for their use or
given to some of their dependants.

In the last resort, they threaten to inflict the curse; and such is the
credulity of the timid Hindu, and such, his dread of the evils which
would spring from the malediction of a Guru, tnat this extreme denun-
ciation seldom' fails to extract the payment.

In addition to these ordinary requisitions levied for the support of
the Giyns, they have several other sources of revenue under the
name of Guru-Dakshina^ which are imposed on the occasions of a
birth, of the Diksha or initiation into the sect, or of the marriage or
death of their disciples.

The casts, however, being obliged to defray the expence of the visits
of their Gurus, the pomp and splendour of which, particularly in the
case of the grand Gurus or Pontiffs, would be ruinous if oflen repeat-
ed, it is sometimes a long while before they are renewed. Some do
not traverse their district more than once in three years, and some in
five years or even less frequently.

Some of the Gurus are married; but in general they live in celi-
bacy. The latter, however, are not reputed to be very strict in the
observance of the virtue of continenoe which they profess. They are
the leas to be trusted in this respect as they can keep a woman or two,
without, being remarked, in the character of servants or cook-maids.

pjfy THE GURUS OR PRIESTS.

For it is a matter admitting of no dispute in this comitry, that for a man
to keep a woman in his house as a servant and to have her for a concu-
bine, are precisely the same thing ; because the Hindus are all con-
vinced that there can be nothing innocent in the free and familiar in-
tercourse between man and woman.

But the foolish vulgar, who believe that their Gurus are moulded
of a better clay than other mortals, and that they are not subject to fall
into evil, look upon this arrangement without scandal. People of un-
derstanding deplore it, and without atten^pting a change, endure it as a
necessary evil, and say they must lay to the charge of human weakness
what even Gurus themselves are not exempt from.

Although the Brahmans style themselves the Gurus of every cast,
and claim the exclusive right to that title and to the honours which
attend it, there are nevertheless many Sudras elevated to that dignityl
The Brahmans, indeed, will on no account recognize their right. But
they disregard that, and take the full enjoyment of the honours and
profits belonging to the title among the cast or sect which is willing to
acknowledge them. *

Excepting during their visitations, the Gurus live in retirement.
They commonly reside in a kind of monasteries or insulated her-
mitages, generally called Matam^ and shew themselves but se^^dom in
public

Some of them reside in the neighbourhood of the great Pagodas ;
but the chief Gurus or Pontiffs, who require greater convenience
for their supply and that of their household, generally live in the
towns.

In their difierent retirements these Gurus give audience to great
numbers of their disciples, many of whom come from a great distance
to pay them their adorations, to receive their blessing and gifi, to offer
them a present, to consult with them, to carry to them complaints
of the infraction of customs of the cast, and many other similar
purposes.

The Hindus, in presenting themselves before the Gurus, make the
Sashtangam, or prostration of the eight members. The sect of Siv^ afler
rendering this first mark of reverence to the Jangûma$j as their Gurus

THE GURUS OR PRIBSTS. 72

are called, immediately proceed to a oeremony whkh deserves to be
noticed. It consists in washing the feet of the Jangama, and receiving
the water as it falls down into a vessel of copper. They pour a part of
this water over their heads, and drink the remainder. This practice is
general among the sed;aries of Siva, and is not uncommon with many
of the Vishnuvites, in regard to their Vashtuma. Neither is it the most
disgusting of the practices that prevail in that sect of fanatics, as they
are under the reproach of eating as a hallowed morsel the very ordure
that proceeds from their Gurus, and swallowing the water with which
th0y have rinsed their mouths or washed their faces, with many other,
pi^actices equally revolting to nature.

From their Maiam^ the Gurus annually send out one of their agents
delegated with their authority to collect the Pada-Kanikaij and the
Gura-Dakshina^ or tribute which they impose, and the fines inflicted
on those who have committed any ofience, as well as the gifts which it
is the custom to present them with.

After discharging all the duties which their profession requires of
them towards their disciples, and performing their daily sacrifices and
ablutions, the Gurus are bound by the rules of their order to employ
what remains of their time in meditation, and the study of the sacred
writings.

The dignity of Guru descends, when married, from father to . son :
but upon the death of one who has lived single, a successor is appointed
by some one of the grand Gurus, who, in the exercise of this power,
generally nominates one of his own dependents. The Pontiffs, on the
other hand, commonly assume coadjutors in their life-time, who succeed
to them at their death*

In the sects of Siva and Vishnu they admit a kind of priestesses, or
women specially ordained to the service of their deities. They are
different fix)m the dancing-women of the temples ; but they follow the
same infamous course of life with them. For the priestesses of Siva and
of Vishnu, after being consecrated, become common to their sect, under
the name of spouses to these divinities : they are for the most part
women who have been seduced by the Jangama and the Vashtuma,
that is, by the priests of Vishnu and of Siva, who, to save their own

72 I^E GURUS OR PRIESTS.

credit and the honour of their families, whom they have thus disgraced,
lay the crime to the charge of their respective gods, to whom they im-
pute the deed. They devote these women to the divine service by the
use of certain ceremonies, after which they are declared the wives of the
god of the sect to which they belong ; and the priests of that sect may
then, without scandal, make use of them, in the name and stead of the
god whose ministers they are.

Those who are consecrated in this manner in the sect of Vishnu have
the name of Garudor-Bassivy^ or women of Garvda^ and bear upon their
breast, as a mark of their dignity, an impression of the form of Garuda,
which is the bird consecrated to Vishnu. *

The priestesses of Siva are known in public by the appellation of
lAnga^Bamvy or women of the Linga, and have the seal of the Linga
imprinted on the thigh, as the distinctive badge of their profession.

These women are held in honour in public by their own cast ; although
in reality they be nothing better than the prostitutes of the priests and
other chiefs of the sect.

( 73 )

CHAP. X.

OF THE PUROHITAS OR HASTERS OF THE CEREMONIES.

X O prognosticate what are good and what are evil days for beginning
any affair, or for putting it off; to avert, by the Mantras or prayers,
the pernicious effects of maledictions or of the influence of malign
constellations ; to assign the name to new bom children and calculate
their nathrity ; to bless new houses, wells, or tanks ; to purify temples
and consecrate them, to give life, to the statues and other inanimate
objects of an idolatrous worship, and to imbue them with the divine
essence : all these ceremonies, and many others of smaller importance^
are the province of the Brahmans called Purohitas^ whose office it is ^
to preside over and conduct them.

The most important of their ceremonies are those of Marriage and
Burial. They are so complex that an ordinary Brahman would be found
incapable of performing them. A regular study is necessary for the
exactness and precision which they require ; and the forms of Man-
tras or prayers are also requisite, with regard to which the greater
part are ignorant. The Furohitas alone are accomplished in the ma^
nagement of these rites, the detail of which they have in writing, in
certain formularies, which they permit nobody to see, not even the
other Brahmans. Indeed the principal Mantras that are used are not
reduced into writing, from the fear that some other Brahmans might
acquire them and so become their rivals, to the diminution of their ex^
dusive profits. The father teaches them to his son, and thus they pass
from generation to generation in one family. This shews that it is self-
interest rather than superstition which occasions this reserve. By hin^
dering the other Brahmans from learning these ceremonies and the cor-

1^4 THE PUROHITAS.

responding Mantras, the Purohitas render themselves more necessaiy
to the people and to the Brahmans themselves, who cannot dispense with
their services on many occasions.

The Furohita Brahmans nol being numerous, those who are of that
rank are often brought from a great distance. They attend the sum-
mons with alacrity, particularly when they are certain that the person
who calls them is capable of recompensing their labours in a liberal
way. And when they cannot undertake the journey themselves they
send some one of their family whom they have trained up to the duty
by teaching them the Mantras which are necessary for the due solem-
nization. At times their place is supplied by ordinary Brahmans, es-
pecially among the Sudras, who are much more brief in regard to
ceremonies than the Brahmans : and although the substitute be not
acquainted with the true Mantoas which pertain to each ceremony, he
does not desist on that account, but pronounces an unmeaning string of
Sanscrit words, which appear more than sufficient to the stupid Sudras,
who understand nothing of the matter. But abuses of this kind never
fail to excite fierce disputes between the real Purohitas and those in-r
truders, whom they treat as sacrilegious usurpers of their functions and
of the rewards which would attend them.

One of the highest privileges attached to the profession of the Puro-
hita is the exclusive right of publishing the Hindu Almanack. The
greater number of them being unable to compose it, they are under the
necessity of purchasing a copy every year from the Brahmans, who
make the calculations. There are but few who are found capable of
this ; perhaps one or two only in a district. It is not upon a knowledge
of the motions of the stars that the Hindu almanack is compiled, but
upon the approximation and agreement of tables and formulae of great
antiquity, and extremely numerous ; and therefore the calculation is
very complicated, and requires much time, attention, and labour to
arrive at exact conclusions.

This book is absolutely necessary to the Furohita, to instruct him
not only respecting good and evil days, but also the favourable mo-
ments in each day ; for it is in such moments only that the ceremonies
which they preside over can be commenced. They are often consulted

THE PUROHITAS. ^g

respecting the happy or unfortunate issue of matters in the most ordi*-
tiary occurrences of life. Neither is it the populace only that are ad*
dieted to this species of superstition ; for the princes a^e more intangled
with it than the people themselves. They have always at least one
Furohita retained in their service at their palaces, who comes every
morning to wait upon them, and to announce what the almanack con-
tains for the day. But the most ridiculous part is, that he afterwards
proceeds to perform the same service to the Prince's elephant and the
idols. The Purohita is consulted many times every day upon the most
ordinary occurrences of life. The Prince will not go a hunting nor
take a walk without his decision whether it will be for bis health of
otherwise. Neither will he receive visits from strangers without the
same precaution : and if there be the least ambiguity in the augury, he
will wait for a more favorable moment, or jiut off his excursion to an-
other day.

The Hiniu Calendar is called PancMngam^ which signifies the Jhe
menU^ers, because in truth it contains five principal heads, namely, the
days of the rtionth, the sign in which the moon is each day to be Tound,
the *day of the week, the eclipses, and the place of the planets. It
likewise marks the good days and the evil ; those on which one may
journey towards any of the four cardinal points ; for each point of the
Compass has ita lucky and unlucky days ; and a person who might
to-day travel very successfully towards the north, would expose himself
to some grievous danger if he took a southward course. It farther con-
tains a vast number of predictions of all sorts which would be too te-
dious for this place.

On the first day of the year the Purohita assembles the principal
inhabitants of the pluce where he lives. In theii* presence he an-
nounces, by sound of trumpet, who is to be king of the gods for that
year, and who is to be supreme over the stars ; who are to be the mi-
nisters and generals of the people ; who is to be god of the crops ;
what sort of grain will thrive the best. He determines also the quan-
tity of rain and of drought, and whether the locusts and other destruc-
tive insects will devour the plants, or if the repose of men is to be
greatly disturbed by bugs and fleas. He foretells, in short, whether it

L 2

»-g THE PUROHETAS.

is to be a year of health or of disease ; whether the deaths or the births
shall predominate ; whether a war is impending, from what side it will
break out, and who shall gain the advantage : together with many other
contingencies of equal importance.

There are many who care little about these predictions and appear
to hold them in derision. But even among these some will be found
consulting the almanack, and even the very man who invents and pub-
lishes it, especially when a war, famine, or other great calamity really
seems to approach : so irresistible is the power of superstition over the
minds of those even who affect to be liberal thinkers and elevated
above the vulgar.

Finally, we may remark, that nothing appears to be more ancient in
India than the establishment of the Purohitas. They are noticed in
all the Hindu books, and if we can give credit to their authors, the
highest honours were paid to them in ancient times. They strive
above all others to maintain the usages and customs of the casts, and
raise their voice the loudest against those who infringe or neglect them.
Their^nterest may prompt them to this : but it is to them that we
owe the chief part of the books of science that exist among the Hindus.
They have preserved them in the midst of the revolutions which have
so oflen subverted the nations.

This class of persons is carefully to be distinguished from the Gurus
described in the last chapter, although it belongs to both to watch over
the observance of the customs of their casts. In other points they
greatly differ, as in the profession of celibacy. All the Purohitas are
married. Indeed I believe it is held absolutely necessary that they
should be so, to qualify them for the performance of the ceremonies ;
and a widower, who did not remarry would not be endured, as his pre-
sence would be thought to bode misfortune.

( 77 )

CHAP. XL

OF THE UJNTBAS, OR FORMS OF PRATEn*

JL HE ' Mantras^ so celebrated in all the Hindu books^ are nothing
more than certain forms of prayer, or words of efficacy, which (to
borrow a Hindu expression on the subject,) have such virtue as to be
able to enchain the gods themselves. They are of various sorts, invocatory,
evocatory, deprecatory, conservatory. They are beneficent or hurtful,
salutary ,or pernicious. By means of them, all effects may be produced.
Some are for casting out the evil spirit and driving him away ; some for
inspiring love or hatred, ior curing diseases or bringing them on, for
causing death or averting it. Some are of a contrary nature to others
and counteract their effect ; the stronger overcoming the influence of
the weaker. Some are potent enough to occasion the destruction of a
whole army. There are some even whose awful summons the gods
themselves are constrained to obey. But I should never finish if I
attempted to enumerate in detail the whole of the pretended virtues of
the Mantra or Mantram.

The Purohitas, of all the Hindus, understand them best. They
are indispensably necessary to them for accompanying the cere-
monies which it is their office to conduct. But, in general, the whole
of the Brahmans are conversant with these fonnulœ, agreeably to this
Sanscrit strophe, which is often in their mouths :

Devâdinâm jagatsarwam,
Mantradinâm taddevaté,
Tanmantram Brâhmanâdinam,
Brâhmana mama Devatà.

Which may be translated : ^^ all the universe is under the power (£Ûê
gods; the gods are subject to the power of the Mantras: the Mantns

78 STORY OF THE KING OF PATNA.

under the power of the Brahmans; the Brahmans are therefore our gods,"
The argument is regular in form, and the conclusion technical; and ac-
cordingly in many books, as I have elsewhere mentioned, they are
called the terrestrial gods. They assume these names to themselves, and
listen with pleasure when they are applied to them by the other casts.

To place the efficacious virtue of the Mantras in a clear point of
view, I will only refer to the following quotation from the Brahmot-
tarakhanda^ a well known Hindu poem written in honour of Siva :
<< Dasara, King of Mathura, having espoused Kalavati, daughter of
the King of Kasi or Benares, this princess, on the very day of
the marriage, apprized him that it would be absolutely necessary
for him to abstain from making use of the right which his title of
husband .gave him, because the Mantram of the five letters which
she had learned, had penetrated her with a purifying fire which
would permit no man to come near her, without the risk of perishing,
unless, before familiar intercourse, he should have been purified
from his sins by the same means which she herself had practised :
that, being his wife, she could not point out to him this piuifying
Mantram, because in doing so she would become his Gum, and con-
sequently his superior.

" The following day, they went together in quest of the great
Rishi, or penitent, Garga ; who having learned the purpose of their
visit, ordered them to fast a whole day, to wash themselves in the
river Ganges on the day following, and then to visit him again. This
being complied with, and the prince having returned, the penitent
made him sit down upon the ground with his face turned towards
the east. Garga sat down beside him with his &ce towards the
west, and secretly whispered these two words in his ear, nama^Sivaya.
That is the Mantram of five letters, or five syllables, and signifies,
* health to Siva.' As soon as Dasara had learned these two wonder-
fiil words, he perceived that he was excited by their purifying fire,
and at the same moment, there sprung out firom all parts of his body
a multitude of crows, which flew up into the sky and disappeared. These
were the sins committed by the prince in preceding generations.

THE MANTRAS, «79

^< This history," says the author, " is œrtain. I had it from my Guru,
Vedavyasa^ who had learned it of Pard-Brahma. The king and . his
spouse, thus purified, lived together for many years, and retired at
last to re-unite with Para-Brahma in the abode of bliss, without being
obliged to be re-born any more upon earth."

When the Brahmans are rallied upon the present state of their
Mantras, wholly divested of their boasted efficacy and power, they
answer, that this loss of their influence is to be attributed to the KaH^
yuganif which means that age of the world in which we now live, the
true iron age, the time of evil and misfortune, in which every thing
has degenerated. Nevertheless, they subjoin, it is stiU not uncommon
to see the Mantras operate effects as miraculous as formerly ; which
they confirm by stories not less authentic than such as we have already
reported.

' Of all the Mantras, the most celebrated, and at the same time
the most effectual for blotting out all sins, and of such potency as to
make the gods themselves to tremble, as the Hindu books affirm, is
that to which they give the name of Gaitry^ or as some write it,
Oayatriy which signifies . the Mantram of the twenty-four letters ' or
syllables. It is so ancient and so powerful as to have given rise to the
Vedas. The Brahman when about to recite it, makes a previous
preparation by prayers and the deepest meditation. Before pronouncing
a word, he closes all the apertures of his body, and keeps in his breath
as long as it is possible to retain it ; and then hë recites it in a low
voice, taking good care that it shall not be intelligible by the Sudras
and the rest of the profane. Even his wife, especially at certain
periods, is not allowed to hear it.

This famous Mantram consists of the following words :

" Tat Savitu varenyam swarga^evasya
" Dimahi diyo yo no prachodayet."

This then is the celebrated Mantram of four and twenty letters or
syllables ; and it appears to be addressed to the Sun, one of whose
appellations is Savita. The meaning is very dark, and unintelli-
gible to the Brahmans themselves. I have never met with any one

go THE MANTRAS.

who could give me a tolerable explication of it. Such as it is, it would
be a horrible sacrilege and an unpardonable crime in any Brahman to
communicate it to any profane or foreign ears. We may add that there
are other Mantras which bear the name of GaycUri^ but they are of
much lower repute than this.

Although the Brahmans alone are held to be the true. depositaries of
the Mantras, yet there are many persons of other casts who scruple
not to pronounce them. There are professions also in which it is in-
dispensable. The Physicians themselves, who are not Brahmans» would
be considered as ignorant beings and unworthy of the public confidence,
however much entitled to it in other respects, if they were unacquainted
with the Mantras suited to each disease as regularly as with the medi-
cines which are applied in the cure. The cure is considered as arising
from the Mantras as much as from the medical applications. One of
the principal reasons for which the European physicians are held in
such discredit in India, as far as regards their profession, is, that they
administer their medicines without any accompaniment of Mantram.

The Midwives are called in some parts Mantra-Sari^ or women who
understand the Mantras ; and never can those holy prayers be more
necessary than at that crisis when, according to the notions of the Hin-
dus, a tender infant and a newly delivered mother are particularly
liable to the fascination of evil eyes, to the malign conjunctions of the
planets, the influence of unlucky days, and many other dangers, each
more perilous than another. A skilful midwife, stored with good and
serviceable Mantras, pronounced at the proper moment, provides
against all such fears and dangers. ^

But those who are considered to be the most skilful in this kind of
knowledge, and at the same time the most dangerous, are the persons who
deal in the Occult Sciences ; such as Magicians, Sorcerers, and Sooth-
sayers. It is this sort of practitioners who pretend to be possessed of
the true Mantras which can strike with sudden death, cure and inflict
diseases, call up or lay the fiends, discover thefts, concealed treasures,
distant objects, or future events. Such persons will always abound in a
country where ignorance, superstition, and quackery so universally
prevail.

THB UANTRAS» ' g j

The wkchieoom magicians being very much dreaded andhated^ never
fail to be punished when they are believed guilty of having brdugfat
down evil upon any one by their spells. The ordinary way of punish*»
ing them on such occasions is by drawing the two front teeth of the
upper jaw, which prevents them from speaking plainly, and is supposed
to mar their utterance of the evil Mantras. Now, the slightest im-.
perfection or defect in pronouncing the Mantram is so ofiensive to their
god or demon, for both are invoked in their magical rites, that if it
occurred he would infallibly turn upon themselves the whole evils which
they imprecated upon others, *

Among the numbers who thus lose their teeth in the cause of magic»
I knew one individual, who came to me the very day on which the cruel
operation was performed, and threw himsdf at my feet, mumbling hia
innocence, and imploring my counsel and assistance to procure répara^
tion for the injustice they'^had done him in knocking out his front teeth»
and in imputing to him the hateful practices of a magician. The poor
man seemed to me to have very little of the appearance of a conjurer; but
having neither the power nor the inclination to interfere in the afiair»
I got rid of him as I best could.

All the magical Mantras are hard to pronounce ; and it is this diffi-*
culty which gives them all their importance, because if a sorcerer pro-
nounces a single syllable amiss the whole evil he was invoking would
fall upon himself.

The Mantram on which this art chiefly depends cannot easily be ex-*
pressed in European characters : Om, mm, hsan^ hgita^ Romaya
namah. The four first are barbarous words and without meaning.
The two last signify " Health to Rama." ^

I believe no nation on earth is so infatuated as the Hindus are with
these notions of magic. The greater part of the cross accidents that
befal them in life are attributed to the jealousy of some enemy who has
had recourse to this wicked art for the purpose of injuring them. If
they lose a wife or children by premature death ; if à contagion breaka
out among the cattle ; or if a married woman continue unfiruitful : none
of these occurrences is believed to have had a natural cause, but they
are all ascribed to, preternatural arts employed by some secret enemy of

g2 THE MANTRAS.

their prosperity* Diseases^ particularly such as are of long endurance^
are attributed to the same cause» and if they should happen to take
place while any quarrel or law-suit subsisted between the parties» the
whole is laid to the charge of the opponent, who is accused of having
devised k by magical contrivance. So serious a charge, to be sure, is
not in general very patiently borne by the party accused ; and thua
a new cause of dissension is engendered.

It is to counteract the effects of this Wicked magic that a vast number
of vagabonds roam over the country, calling themselves Beneficent
Magidansj who are supposed to possess the Mantras that have power
to heal the disorders and other evils occasioned by the Sapanam or
malignant magic, to render barren women firuitfiil, to cast out devils
from those who are possessed with them, to .check the murrain among
cattle, to destroy the insects which ravage the fields, and to produce
other beneficial effects. After reciting all their Mantras and carefuUy
performing their whole ceremonies, they give amulets to their patients,
on which are inscribed some unmeaning words. These sacred S3rmbol8
they direct 'to be worn about their persons, as having virtue to complete
the cure which the Mantram had begun. They then take their fee and
go in quest of fi*esb dupes.

But as this delusion will be discussed more largely hereafter, we now
return to the subject of the Mantras. There is one species of them differ-
ing fi'om any we have yet mentioned, and capable of much more won-
derfiil effects. It is called Bijaksharam^ or Radical Letters; such as
shrum^ craoomj hriniy hroon^ hrooy hooy and others of the Uke sound.
Those who understand their true pronunciation, combination, and ap-
plication, may perform prodigies as fast as he pleases. Let us take
the following example.

Siva chose to communicate the knowledge of them to a bastard boy,
the son of a widow of the Brahman cast, who, on account of the igno-
miny of his birth, had the mortification to be excluded fi-om a wedding
feast He took his revenge by merely pronouncing two of the radical
syllables at the door of the apartment where the guests were assembled,
and by the power of the two syllables the viands on the table were in*
«tantly turned into toads. Such an accident would naturally occasion

TOE MANTRAS.

much confusion in the party. None of them doubted but that it was
the little b&stard who had played them such a trick, and that, if they
still kept him out, he might go on with his pranks. Accordingly they
opened the door for him, and upon entering the room, he pronounced
the same syllables, only reversing their order, when immediately the
toads changed again into what they were at first, and the different dishea
took their original form.

I must leave it to men skilled in antiquity to point out any thing in
their researches equal in extravagance to this of the Hindus, or which
could possibly have served them in it for a model.

f ,

^'. . ^

u 2

( 8* )

CHAP. XII.

OF THE CEBEMONIES PBACTISED OK THE BRAHMAN WOMEN WHEN BftOUOHT TO

BED, AND ON INFANTS OF TENDER AGE.

W ITHOUT stopping at present to enumerate the many ceremonies
practised with regard to the wives of the Brahmans when in a state of
pregnancy, from the time when it is first ascertained to that of parturition,
some of which shall be noticed elsewhere, I will content myself with
describing a few which are never omitted to be used towards the mo-
ther, and to the child ailer it is born.

A Brahmani or Brahmanariy the wife of a Brahman, is pronounced
to be unclean for ten days aftec her lying-in, and the stain is in some
measure communicated to every person in the house where she is
brought to bed. On the eleventh day they send all the linen she has
used to be washed, and the house is thoroughly cleaned in the Hindu
manner by smearing the floor with cow-dung moistened with water, and
then marking it with broad stripes of white. The Purohita being now
called to celebrate the ceremonies of the purification, makes her sit down
on a little stool, holding the child in her arms. Her husband being
seated beside her, the Purohita commences by sacrificing to the god
Puliyar or Vighneswara. He then consecrates some water, and pours
a little into the hand of the husband and the wife, who drop a part
of it on their heads, and drink the rest. The house is afterwards
sprinkled over with the holy water, and what remains is thrown into
the well.

By this ceremony all that dwell in the house are deemed to be
purified, and may then mix with the world. The newly delivered woman
alone is not perfectly clean till the end of a month firom the time of her
lying-in. During the whole period of her undeanness she must be

WOBCEN-AMD INFANTS. g^

kepi in ft detached place» and must not touch any of the Âunkure or
vessels in the house. The time being expired she may then return to.
her usual place in the family.

This practice a good deal resembles that of the Israelitish women
under the same circumstances, as may be seen in the twelfth chapter
of Leviticus. But the sequel of the Jewish ceremony is quite différent,
as in India no regard is paid to the sex of the infant in relation to the
uncleanness of the mother, which continues equally long whether she
brings a boy or a girl.

Twelve days after the birth, the child receives its name, tvhich ia'
imparted in this manner. The father, and the mother with the infant
in lier arms, being seated, the.Brahmans who are invited form a circle
round them. A plate with rice, raw but free of husks, is brought in,
upon' the surface of which the father inscribes the day of the month
when the child was bom, with the name of the ruling star of that day*
He adds the name which he wishes to be given to the child, which
has been previously chosen out of the calendar of their saints with
many long and trifling combinations. Each ceremony is accompanied
with several Mantras of the Purohita, who pronounces them, holding
a gold ring in his hand. I ought not to omit that the whole is pre-
ceded by the sacrifice of the Homam^ .which will be afterwards des-
cribed. In this case it is ofiered to the nine planets. At last, the
whole ceremonies being ended, the father calls the child three times
by the name which has been given to it, and the whole is concluded
with a sacrifice to the god of the house. Dinner is then served to the
Brahmans, who, after receiving betel^ and some pieces of money or
other presents, take their leave.

When the child has attained the age of six months, they begin td
give him solid food ; and this gives occasion for a new entertainment to
the Brahmans. The house where it is given, having been first neatly
cleaned within and without, in the Hindu fashion, the door is decorated
with garlands of mango leaves. In the court, a pandal or shed is con-
structed, under which a little bank of earth is raised, which is used
for several purposes. The Brahmans, who have been previously in-
vited» bftving placed themselves under the pandaiy the mother of tb$

^ CEREMONIES ]PRACn6BD ON

child goes thither also^And carrying it in her arms sits down on the Httle
bank of earth. The Purohita* commences this, as well as the former
ceremony, by offering the sacrifice of the Homam. When it is over^
the married women, but not widows, draw near and, singing all together,
perform over the child the ceremony of the Araii or Alati.

As this ceremony will be frequently alluded to in the course of this
work, it will be prqper here to give a short; account of it. Upon a
plate of copper they place a lamp made of a paste from rice flower.
It is supplied with oil and lighted. The married women, but not
-widows, for their presence would be unlucky, take hold of the plate
with both hands, and raising it as high as the head of the person for
whom the ceremony is performed» describe in that position a number
of circles with the plate and the burning lamp.

Sometimes, in place of the rice lamp, they fill the plate with water,
coloured red with a mixture of safiron and other ingredients; and
with this describe their circles, raising it as high as the head of the
person who is the object of the ceremony.

The intention of this ceremony is to avert fascination by the eye,
and to prevent the accidents which arise out of I know not wlmt
evil impression occasioned by the jealous looks of certain persons.
The credulity of the Hindus respecting this sort of injury is carried
to excess : and it is for that reason that the ceremony of the aratiy
which is considered to have the virtue of preventing the effect of
those glances, is so common and so universal among the Hindus, and
especially among persons of high rank, who, being more observed
and having more enemies than private individuals, are more exposed
to the evil influence of malevolent or jealous looks. When such
persons therefore appear in public, the first thing that is done on
their return t^ome, is to perform thb ceremony of the arati over
them, as an antidote to the ill designed looks which may have been
cast upon • them. For the same reason princes have the ceremony re*
peated several times in a day.

The gods themselves are not considered out of the reach of
malicious glances of the eye ; and therefore when they are carried in
processions in the streets, or in any other way exposed to public vener-

WOMEN AMD INFANTS. gfj

ation» the ceremony of the arati is always celebrated when they are
taken back to their places, to efface the evil they may have sustained
by such wicked looks. The girls of easy virtue who daily attend at
the temples of the idols to chaunt hymns in their praise, never faily
at the conclusion, to light the lamp of rice paste and to go through the
ceremony of the arati, elevating it to the idols' heads, and whirling
in the accustomed circles.

This sort, of superstition or idle observance is by no means peculiar
to the Hindus* I have seen cantons in France, (and I suppose it
is not different in many other countries,) where the people were scarcely
less infiituated. I have known decent viUagers who would not have
dared to shew their ycmng children to people they did not know, or to
persons of bad appearance, lest their invidious or'ill-boding look should
occasion some mischief to bead them.

The bad consequences arising from the eye or look were not unknown
to the ancients. We read in Virgil,

<^ Nesdo quis teneros oculus mihi iSudnat agaos.'*

The Hindus call this evil glance drishti^sham^ or evil which comes
from looks ; upon which their notions are altogether extravagant. But
let us resume our subject.

The ceremony of arati being made upon the child by the married
women present, they continue their song and go in a body to seek the
god of the Plate^ who is nothing else than a new vessel of br^ss given
for a present by the maternal uncle of the infant. This dish has been
turned into a god by virtue of the Mantras of the Purôhita. The
women, proceeding to the place where it is deposited, cast into it a
small quantity of an earth called Pramanam ; after which, each clasp-
ing her hands, the whole at once make a devout obeisance to the
god of the Dish, and place him beside the child ; for whom at the same
time they offer up their wishes that he may become great and strong,
and enjoy good health and long life. Then they rub his lips with
boiled rice, prepared expressly for the occasion, and gird round his
middle a little c^oth, which is likewise brought out with abundance of

ceremonies.

gg CEREMONIES PRACTISED ON

^ The women having retired^ leave room for the men, who put some
akshata upon the infant's head as well as on their own. The akshatOj of
which frequent mention will be hereafter made, are nothing but grains
of rice tinged with a reddish hue.

This ceremony and the preceding one being accomplished, the whole
is finished by a feast given to the persons- invited.

When the infant attains its second or third year, tfiey shave its
head ; and this also is made the subject of a feast. Preparations are
made for this important ceremony as on former occasions. On the
earthen bank raised under the pandal or shed, in the way before
mentioned, they trace a square, in the middle of which they deposit a
measure of rice in the husk. In the same square they place the idol
Puiit/ar or Vighneswara^ to whom they make an ofiering of cocoas, sugar,
and betel. The barber then shaves the head of the child, to the sound
of musical instruments, leaving only a small tuft of hair, such as the
Hindus always permit to grow on the crown of the head. AU who
have been invited look on, and are obliged to continue standing until
the barber finishes his operation. As soon as it is over, he lays hold
of the measure of rice which stands in the little square, takes his
payment and retires. The Brahmans then perform the sacrifice of the
Homam to the nine planets.

The Furohita presides at all these ceremonies, and accompanies
âiém with the Mantras. As in former cases, they are closed with a
repast provided for the Brahmans that are invited.

About the same time they pierce the ears of the children of either
sex ; for the Hindu men as well as the women wear pendants at their
ears, though of a different shape. They are always of gold, and it
IS not allowed to wear on the head trinkets of any other metal ; only
that sometimes the women employ a silver one to bind the hair at the
neck.

The ceremony of piercing the ears of the children is not without
its entertainments any more than the antecedent ones. It is attended
with nearly the same practices, which it would be tedious any more
to describe. The jeweller bores them, to the sound of musical in-
struments, with a very fine gold wire. The hole is gradually widened firom

WOMEN AND INFANTS. gg

time to time by inserting a substance of greater thickness. It is more
enlarged in the girls, for the purpose of suspending a greater pro-
portion of ornaments. But in some provinces of the peninsula it
is so enormously extended, both in men and women, as to equal at
least the size of a Spanish dollar.

I have studiously abridged the account of these ceremonies, as
nearly the same will recur in those of the triple cordy of marriage»
and of burial ; where they will be more minutely detailed.

However frivolous and superstitious these ceremonies may be, they
possess one advantage at least, that of compelling the Brahmans to
assemble frequently together, and to make their duties reciprocal,
which greatly contributes to render the individuals of their society
much more refined than those of the other Hindu casts amongst whom
these practices do not prevail.

DESCRIPTION

THE PEOPLE OF INDIA

aç

PART II.

OF THE FOUR STAGES IN LIFE OF THE BRAHMAN.

CHAP. I.

STATE OF BBAHMACHABI.

X HE Brahmans divide their progress through life into four stages :
the first is that of a young man of the cast, when he has been invested
with the triple cord, and is then called Brdhmachari. The second is when
the Brahman becomes a married man. In this condition, and parti-
cularly when he is the father of children, hé obtains the appellation of
Grihastha. He reaches the third stage when, being satiated with the
world, he resolves to retire into the desart with his wife ; and then he
receives the name of Vanaprastha, which signifies '' an inhabitant of the
wilderness." The fourth and last stage is that of Sannytm^ at which
he arrives when he devotes himself to a life of solitude, with no wife ;
and in a still higher degree of seclusion than the Vanaprastha.

It will be proper to consider these several degrees in their turn,
with the duties belonging to each. In the first place, then, we shall
speak of the Brahmacharij and the manner in which he is instituted
into this condition.

N 2

92 STATE OF BRAHMACHARI.

All the Brahmans wear a Cord over the shoulder, consisting of three
thick twists of cotton, each of them fonned of several smaller threads.
It is called Dandiam in the Telinga^ PuniU in Tamvl^ and Janivaram^
or Yajnopavitam in Canara. The three threads are not twisted toge-
ther, but separate from one another, and hang from the left shoulder
to the right haunch. When a Brahman marries, he mounts nine threads
in place of three.

This number, three^ followed, and it may be said, consecrated in this
particular circumstance as well as in many others no less important,
must contain some mysterious tneaning ; and I have no doubt it refers
to the three principal divinities of India; Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva.

The children of Brahmans are invested with the Cord when they come
to the age of seven or nine years. It is not obtained but at a consider-
able expence ; and Brahmans who are poor are therefore, in order to
acquire it, obliged to resort to a contribution ; and Hindus of every cast
believe they perform a meritorious act in contributing to the charges of
the ceremony. It is called Upanayana^ or, the Introduction to the Sciences;
for the privilege of studying them all belongs only to the Brahmans, the
other casts being permitted to learn but a small number.

The Cord which is given to the young Brahmans must be made with
much care and with many ceremonies. The cotton of which it is formed
ought to be gathered from the plant by the hands of Brahmans only, in
order to avoid the pollution which would pass from the impure hands
of men of other casts. For the same reason it should be carded, spun,
and twisted, by persons of the tribe, and be always kept exceedingly pure*

I had some difficulty in bringing myself to detail the whole of this
ceremony of the Upanayana, it is so filled with minute and trifling
superstition. But I considered that those who would wish to know and
to compare together the ceremonies of various ancient nations, would
probably be pleased with a regular siunmary of the true genius of the
Hindu superstitions. I have taken that which I here present from the
Directory or Ritual of the Purohitas. The father of the Brahmachari
commences by selecting, agreeably to the rules of Hindu astrology, the
month of the year, the week, the day of the week, and the minute of the
day, most favourable for that ceremony. Part of what is necessary is

STATE OF BRAHMACHARL 93

laid down in the Hindu almanack. The Purohita is charged with what
remains ; and it is no trifling affair, so intricate are the calculations and
combinations which he has to undertake.

The father of the young Brahman is in the first instance required to
make an ample provision of rice, peas, pumkins, and all other vegetable
food, of curdled milk and melted butter, of cocoa and the various kinds
of fruit which can be found, to be the ground work of the entertainment
to be given to the Brahmans. It is necessary above all things that he
should be provided with betel, and good store of money in silver and
copper, together with some pieces of new cloth. All these articles
must be distributed to his guests at the close of the ceremony, which
continues four days. He must also provide a new dish of copper or
brass, and several earthen vessels which have never served for any such
purpose before, and must never be used again.

Every thing being in readiness, the ceremony of the first day begins.
An invitation is given to all the Brahmans, their relations, and friends ;
to those who live in the place, and those who gave invitations on simi-
lar occasions of their own. In general, if any one were overlooked of
those who have the right or the expectation of being invited, such a
neglect would occasion disputes and animosities between the parties
concerned, that would rarely terminate but with life.

The Purohita is called before all the others. He brings on the day
that is indicated, the belt itself, mango-leaves, the sacred herb ^ Darbha,
and an antelope's skin to sit upon ; the skin of this animal, as well
as that of the tyger, being deemed extremely pure and becoming, as no
uncleanness arises from handling or sitting upon them.

When all the guests are assembled, the Purohita begifis by invoking
the god of. the house, which must have been previously well purified
and set in order according to the customs of the Hindus, by rubbing
the floors and inside walls with cow-dung diluted with water, while the
outside walls are adorned with broad perpendicular stripes in red earth.

* The herb Darbha or Darbee^ which is also called Kusa, is a sacred plant employed
in most of the ceremonies of the Brahmans. It will be fully described hereafter. In the
meantime it may be sufficient to remark the resemblance which the name of this plant, Dar-
Uia, the growth of which resembles the common grass or hay, bears to the Latin noun Herba.

94 STATE OF BRAHMACHARL

The greater part of the ceremonies are performed under a pancUzl or
alcove, previously set up for this purpose in the yard, with great care
and useless rites. It is supported on twelve piQars of wood, erected by
the hands of th&Brahmans themselves. For to them alone, and to the
persons connected with the Right Hand^ belongs the privilege of fix-
ing twelve pillars ; those of the Left Hand being limited to ten or to
eleven at most.

While the Purohita is beginning to recite his mantram, they place
the Puliyar or Vighneswara under the pandal. They are often contented,
however, with setting up a cone made of mud or cow-dung to represent
that deity, which, by the virtue of the Purohita's mantram, becomes a
god. He then offers him a sacrifice of incense, of burning lamps, and
akshata, or grains of rice tinged with red. This god Puliyar is of a dis-
position much addicted to wrath and contradiction ; as his appellation
Vighneswara imports, meaning the God of Obstacles. For this reason, in
all public ceremonies, they begin with invoking him first, that he may
not interpose any troublesome obstruction to their happy progress.

The married women (widows being excluded from all scenes of cheer-
fulness) being purified by bathing ; some of them go to prepare the
feast, whilst others return to the place of assembly, and having made
the young Brahmachari sit down on a little stool, they rub him well
with oil, then wash him, hang a new cloth to his belt, adorn him with
several trinkets, and do not fail to put round his neck a string of coral
beads, and bracelets of the same material on his arms. They forget
not to stain the rim of his eyelids with black. This last is very com-
monly used by the Hindus, and is known to have been usual in former
times with otRer nations.'

The father and mother of the young man who is the subject of the
ceremonies, make him sit down between them in the midst of the
assembly, and the women who are present, perform upon him the cere-
mony of the Arati which was described in the last chapter. Then
they join their voices in chanting praise to the gods, or good wishes for
the young man.

This ceremony is followed by an offering which is made to the god
of the house for every house has its own deity, male or female accord-

STATE OF BBAHMACHABI. 95

ing to the fancy of the votary. The sacrifice consists in offering up a
little boiled rice with a portion of different kinds of food prepared for
the feast, and some betel. This offering is not thrown away, being
afterwards eagerly devoured as a sacred morsel yielding happiness.

The principal ceremonies of the first day being thus concluded, all
the people are made to sit down in several rows, the women being se-
parated from the men in such a manner that they may not be looked
at The women of the house wait upon the guests, and^ with their
fingers (spoons and forks being entirely unknown amongst the Hindus)
serve out the rice and other dishes prepared for the occasion. Each
receives his portion on leaves of the banana or other trees, sewed to-
gether, which can only serve once. The entertainment being over they
distribute betel among the guests, who then withdraw for the day.

Next day, early in the morning, the father of the young Brahman,
having purified himself by bathing, waits the proper time, and as soon as
it comes, he goes, as he had done the day before, to invite his relations
and firiends to attend and accompany him to the ceremonies of the second
day. He takes with him the Akshatas in a sort of cup, to present them
to the persons he has invited. And indeed the offer of such presents
to those who assist at these ceremonies is a part of Hindu politeness ;
and the guests, as a proof of their taking it in good part, pick up a few
of the red grains and stick one or two on their foreheads as an ornament.

The assembly being fonned, the Brahmachari, with his father and
mother, all ascend the pile of earth thrown up beneath the pandaly and
seat themselves on three little stools. In the meantime the young man
is bathed in the same manner as on the former day ; they deck his
brows with sandal and akshata, and gird his loins with a pure cloth,
that is to s|iy a cloth not handled since it was washed. * All these ce-
remonies are accompanied with the songs of the women, the same as on
the preceding day. But on this occasion they do not use the ceremony
of the Arati.

♦ It is not in this case only that pure cloths must be used by the Brahmans ; for when-
ever they wash themselves they must employ no other ; and it is for this reason that, after
bathing, they always wash their towel to remove its impurity, and then wait till it is dry
before tliey put it up.

gg STATE OF BRAHMACHARI.

These introductory ceremonies being accomplished, the Purohita
enters, carrying fire in an earthen vase, which he places upon the pile ;
and by means of the mantram, he makes this fire a god. The &ther
of the Brahmachari then advances and makes the sacrifice of the Ho*
mam in honour of the fire ; this is succeeded by nine similar sacri-
fices m honour of the nine planets. The Hindus reckon them nine,
because, in addition to the seven which we admit with them^ they
add the increasing and waning moon as two distinct planets. These
nine are considered as malevolent deities ; and they are generally sent
by the magicians on the errand of tormenting the objects of their
resentment. On the present occasion, as well as on many others, the
design of the sacrifice of the Homam is to render them propitious.

The sacrifice of the Homam heretofore repeatedly mentioned, and
to which we must again firequently return, is one of the most merito-
rious. The Brahmans alone have the privilege of offering it. Their
method is to kindle a fire of the wood called Ravi, or some other kind
consecrated to the same purpose, and then to cast on the fire some
boiled rice bedaubed with melted butter. This sacrifice, so simple and
easy, is nevertheless very famous and in very frequent Use.

Those sacrifices made by means of fire, are followed by one made to
the Fire itself, to which as a deity they ofier incense, with burning
lamps and certain viands. The * fire thus consecrated is afterwards
carried into a particular apartment 'of the house, and kept up day and
night with great care until the. ceremony is ended. It would be consi-
dered a very inauspicious event, if, for want of attention or by any ac-
cident, it should happen to go out. *

The following ceremony conducted by the women will not be thought
the least ridiculous of the festival. Having procured a large copper
vessel, well whitened over with lime, they go with it to draw water,
accompanied with instruments of music. Having filled the vessel
with water, they place in it perpendicularly some leaves of mango, and

* All the sacrifices to fire or made by means of fire, indicate a. species of idolatry very strik-
ing, but by no means peculiar to the Hindus. It is well known to what a pitch the Chal-
d^ns, Persians, and some other ancient nations carried their superstition in this particular.

gTATB OF BBAHMACHARL 97

fasten a new cloth round the whole, made yellow with safiron water.
On the neck of the vessel, which is narrow, they put a cocoa nut
stained with the same colour as the cloth. In this trim they carry it
into the interior of the house, and set it on the floor upon a little heap
of rice. There it is still farther ornamented with women's trinkets ;
after which the necessary ceremonies are performed to invite the god,
and to fix him there. This perhaps is not the same as the god of the
hoftse ; or rather it is the apotheosis of the vessel itself that is made in
this case, for it actually becomes a divinity, receiving offerings of in-
cense, flowers, betel, and other articles used in the sacrifices of the
Brahmans. Upon this occasion only, women act and perform the dei-
fication ; and it appears that the divinity which is resident in the vessel
is female. But, however this may be, the mother of the Brahmachari,
taking up in her hands this new divinity, goes out of the house, ac-
companied by the other Brahman women, visits the festival, preceded
by musical instruments, and makes the circuit of the village, walking
under a sort of canopy which is supported over her head. Upon re-
turning home she sets the vessel God, which she has in her hands^
where it was formerly stationed under £he pandal ; and with the assist-
ance of some of the other women, she fixes, in honour of the god, two
new cloths on the pillars of the alcove near which it is placed.

The following ceremony is also, at least in a great measure, per-
formed by women. They go in search of mould from a nest of karias^
which are a species of white ants very common in India and very trou«
blesome. With this they fill five small earthen pots, in which they
aow nine sorts of grain, which they moisten with milk and water*
When they have finished, the Brahmans approach, and by the power of
their mantras they convert the five earthen pots into as many gods^
Afier offering to these new divinities the accustomed sacrifice of in-
cense, rice, and betel, they are placed upon a little dish and set down
under the pandal, near the female god of whom we have just spoken»
*When they are put by her side, the whole party join in a profound in-
clination of the body in sign of adoration. They make another to the
^ods of their . ancestor» whom they invoke to be present at the feast
turning to the young man who is the object of the whole, they

gg STATE OF BRAHMACHARI.

tie a piece of bastard safiron to his arm with a yellow cord. The barber
once more ahaves his head ; he is bathed» his brows are decorated witk
sandal leaves, and his loins are girt with B^pure cloth.

The ceremony is immediately succeeded by ihefeast of the young men^
particularly provided for the young Brahmans who had been previously
invited to partake of it with the new candidate.

This repast is followed by a ceremony more imposing than the pre-
ceding. The father of the new Brahman having made the company
retire to some distance» whilst he and his son ure concealed behind a
curtain, sits down upon the ground, with his face turned towards the
west, and making his son sit down beside him with his face towards the
east, he whispers a deep secret in his^ ear out of the mantras, and gives
him other instructions analogous to his prêtent situation. The whole
is in a style which probably is little comprehended by the listener»
Among other precepts I am informed, the &ther» on one occasion, de»
livered the following : ^^ Be mindful, my son, that there is one God
'< only, the master, sovereign, and origin of all things. Him ought
^^ every Brahman, in secret, to adore. But remember also that this is
'^ one of the truths that must never be revealed to the vulgar herd. If
•• thou dost reveal it, great evil will be&l thee.'*

In the evening, at the time when the lamps are lighted, the
Brahmachari being made to take his seat in the alcove under the
branches, the women, with songs, go in quest of the consecrated fire
we have mentioned, which it was a sacred duty to keep alive, and place
it close by the youth. The Furohita, drawing near, recites some man-
tras over the fire ; after which the young Brahman makes, for the first
time, the saarifice of the Homam^ which has been already described ;
and this he has acquired the right to do by the distinction of the Cord.
While he is employed in the sacrifice the women continue their singing,
inharmonious as it is, and the instruments make the air resound with
sharp and discordant notes. The Homam is followed by a sacrifice to
the holy fire which was recently brought by the women ; after which
they take it back to its original station. They quickly return, and
once more perform the ceremony of the Aratito the newly initiated
disciple. Aft^er this they receive betel, as well as the other guests.
And thus conclude the ceremonies of the second day.

STATE OF MAJaMACHARI. ^

When all is ended, the father of the Brahmachari distributes amongst
the assistants what remains of the money which he destined for the
charges of the feast. He orders the pieces of cloth which were pro-
vided to be brought in/ and he distributes them also. Those that are
wealthy give cloth of higher price, and some add the present of
trinkets or a cow. The Brahmans, always skilful in the art of adula-
tion» extol such liberal donors, idolize their generosity, and assign
them a place already with Parar-Brahma as the reward of their kindness
to the Brahmans. Those to whom such flatteries are directed listen to
them with the utmost complaisance, and think them ample remuner-
ation for thç extravagant expences ^idiich their folly has occasioned.

Besides the Brahmans (as we have formerly mentioned) there are
some other Hindu casts who wear the Dandiam or Yajnopavitam, that
is to say, the triple cord : and An particular the Jainas, who will Jbe
mentioned afterwards. The Kikairiya or Rajas» the Vaiiya or Merchants^
and, amcmgst the Sudras» the five casts of artisans in wood, stone» and
metals, have also the right to wear this badge-; by which means it
ceases to b^ a distinction and occasions ambiguity. The cast of the
Rajas receive the cord from the hand of a Piirohita Brahman; but
be makes no other ceremony at its reception tlian the sacrifice of the
Homam. -ASu&t being invested he must give a great entertainment to
all the Brahmans who have honoured the ceremony witih their com-»
pany, and make them presents. Before he departs, he presents him-
«elf before the assembly and makes the prostration of the e^ht membora»
whether for the purpose of thanking the Brahmans, of whom it is com-
posed, for the honour they had conferred upon him in giving him the
cord, or whether as a mark of his adoration of those gods of the earth.
This ceremony, however, does not bear the name of Upanmfanoj be»
cause the Rajas do not acquire through it the right of learning all. the
sciences. They have not» fi>r example that of perusing the Vedas.

It is thus ajt the present time, that it is conferred on the five casts
of artisans. But it is not by the hands of a Brahman that they receive
it, because, like the Jainas, they will not admit them to be superior to
themselves. It is the Guru of their own cast that confers it.

o 2

(100 )

CHAP. IL

OF THE CONDUCT EXPECTED FROM THE BRJHMJCffJBIi AKD THE RIGHTS HE

ACQUIRES BY RECEIVING THE CORD.

X HE condition of Brahinachari continues from the Upanat/ana or
ceremony of the Cord to the time of Marriage, which is about the age
of sixteen» This is not too early a time to marry, because the spouse
is a child of four or five years old. This custom of marrying the girls
so soon, and indeed as early as possible, though comnion to all the
casts, is most strictly observed by the Brahmans ; to .such a degree
even, that a marriageable girl would scarcely find a husband among
them. In this cast there is often the most disgusting inequality of age
between the parties ; for it is not at all uncommon to see old widowers
of sixty or seventy remarrying with children of six or seven years of age^
and giving a preference to them over adult and really marriageable wo-
men, whom they will not endure to hear mentioned, although these poor
victims of the prejudices of their cast may have uniformly led an irre-
proachable life. Whence can such an abuse have arisen? The hus-
band, of course, generally dies long before the wife, and frequently even
before she has attained the age at which the real objects of marriage
can have begun. She finds herself a widow when she has but just
grown into a woman ; and, according to the customs of her cast, she
cannot marry again. Hence disorders arise which tend to the disho-
nour'of all the tribe. The evil is striking, but the idea of curing it,
by allowing young widows to remarry, never enters the mind of any
Brahman. In every circumstance that can occur, they are willing to
support the utmost inconvenience rather than abolish or even alter the
most ridiculous of their absurd prejudices.

The proper business of the young Brahman, before marriage, is held
to be a course of study, of rigorous submission and conformity to the

CONDUCT OF THE BRAHMACUARI. '10|

severe discipline of all the rules of the east This is the meaning of
his appellation of Brahmachari. It enjoins ready obedience to the or-
ders of his superiors, the utmost deference to his father and mother.
But as far as relates to his equals, and to real politeness towards the
rest of the world, the sequel of our enquiries will shew what regard is
paid to those rules of conduct, when the indolence of parents drops
the rein which should keep their children in order.

The young Brahman is to commence by learning to read and write«
He. is then taught the Vedas and the Mantras, which he gets by
heart. . He then advances to other sciences according to the d^ee of
his docility and quickness of capacity. If he has the means of paying
teachers, the study of the various idioms of India, and above all the
Hinduvif at least in the southern provinces, occupies the greater part
of his leisure. During this immature period, he is not to use betel, nor
pût flowers in his hair, nor ornament his body or forehead wit^ saindaj.
Neither must he look at himself in a mirror. He must ba^ daily,
and ofier the sacrifice of the Homam twice a day. .In shorty . his. whole
attention must be occupied in forming himself upon the true moddiof
the institutions of his cast. , *

It is not easy for children to live under such restraint ; and accord-
ingly very few are found who follow all that is prescribed to them.
Nothing is more common, for example, than to see ;them with their
foreheads decorated with sandal, and their mouths full of betel. And
it is not likely that other rules, which are prescribed on the points of
form, should be better observed.

Although a . young Brahman, from being incapable of affording the
expences necessary, or from. whatever other cause, haS;nôt been able. to
.enter into the state of matrimony at the time prescribed, they no
longer treat him as a Brahmachari, afler attaining the .age of eighteen
or; twenty; neither does he acquire the name of GrtAo^^a. But,
.whatever be his age or condition, as soon as he has obtained the Cord,
he is entitled to t|ie six privileges of the cast, of which the: Hindu
books so oflen speak. These six privileges are as follows.

To read, and to get read, the Vedas ; to make and to cause to be
made,: the sacrifice of ; the Yajna ; . and, lastly, io receive alms, and to

— ■*

102 RIÔHTâ or THB BRAHUACHABI.

give , presents to the Brahtnims. The Sudrais have only the last of
these ^rivil^ecs namely, that of giving alms or presents to the Brahmans,
who afibct to confer an honour by receiving them at their hands, i
shall speak but briefly upon thèse privil^es*

The right to read âhd learn the ¥edas is so exclusively appropriated
to them, that the slightest penalty which a Brahman would incut by
rashly or imprudently lending these sacred books^ or communicating
flieir contents to persons of a difierent cast, would be, as we have else-
where mentioned, to be ignominiously driven from his cast, without
axiy hope of being admitted again. It does not follow from this, that
these books contain any thing important or rational. In fact, they
have nothing but their antiquity to recommend them. As to any
tiling ffurther, diey include all the absurdities of Hindu paganism, not
only such as it has originally been, but also the pitiful details of
fkbles which are at present current in the country, relating to the
fantastical austerities of the Hindu hermits, to the metamoiphoses of
Vishnu, or the abominations of the Lingam. I could easily prove
this assertion by many passages extracted from these books, if my
limits allowed me. . The fouith of them called Aiharvann^eda^ is the
most dangerous of all for a people so entirely sunk in superstition,
because it teaches the art of Magic, or the method of injuring men by
the use of witchcraft and incantation.

It is from these books that the Ërahmans have filched their
principal Mantrap so famous and so beneficial to them ; and it is for
that reason, no doubt, that they hold them so precious. But whatever
may have been affirmed, we are entitled to conclude, that however
great the antiquity of the Vedas may be, they are posterior to the
present religion of the Hindus, in which we find the whole details,
even to the institution itself of the Brahmans.

Those who profess the study of science must learn these books by
heart This qualification gains for its possessors the name of Vaiàika.
But, in devoting themselves to this study, they cannot expect to reap
any benefit in point of instruction ; because the language in which
they are composed is so ancient, and the errors which have crept in by
the e^relessness of copiers are so multiplied in the manuscripts that still

BIOHTS OP THE BRAHMACHARL |0^

remain, that they are nearly unintelligible to the Brahinans thetnsçlves,
who are considered to be the most conversant in that branch» We must»
however, except some interpolations, more recent and more intelligible,
which were foisted into these books by the penitent Vyasa, as it i»
said, with the design of explaining the text, and giving the true
sense ; but they have been awkwardly blended with the text itsdf.

The greater part of the Brahmans, who devote themselves to this
study, understand neither the one nor the other, because they have
not yet attained a sufficient acquaintance with the Sanscrit^ the parent
language of India, in which the books are written. Their utmost
profidency has been to read it tolerably, by which they are enabled to
learn it mechanically and get it by rote, without understanding its
meaning. They may be compared to the peasantry in the Catholic
countries of Europe, who learn to read Latin that they may be able
to chaunt the Psalms on Sundays at church*

In some parts, however, Brahmans are to be met with, who are
well versed in this mother tongue^ although they are in no gr^at
number. There are some of them even who are so disinterested as to
teach the Vedas gratuitously to their disciples. But the greater
number are too closely attached to their private interests, or too poor
to imitate them. It does very well for a wealthy Brahman to be at
such an expence, and to encourage others in. the same studies by
rewards. Accordingly, some of them act on this plan, and fancy they
are performing meritorious works of charity. They have paid . the
compliment to the cast of Rajas, to associate them with themselves
in the right of having the Vedas read to them ; that is to say, in
paying the masters who teack them ; and I am well persuaded they
would not refuse the same favour to any other person tibat would con-
tribute to so good a work, even were it a Sudra.

It is not to be understood, however, that there is any great degree of
emulation among them in regard to this sort of study. Poverty pre-
vents the greater number from engaging in it ; and the apathy ai^d
indolence so charàcteristical of all Hindus keep back the rest from a
study sufficiently repulsive in itself.

iQ^ RIGHTS OF THE BRAHMACHAtO.

The diird and fourth privilege of the Brahraans consists in making
the sacrifice of the Yajna and in causing it to be made. But, as I
propose to detail the principal circumstances in this famous sacrifice
when I treat of the Vanaprastha Brahmans, I will omit them here.

It appears that the Yajna as well as the Homam, of jvhich we
have already spoken, is to be understood as being a sacrifice made to
the ^re already consecrated by the Mantram, and into which the
Brahman to whom alone it belongs to make it, casts the boiled rice
bedaubed with melted butter. By the word Y(ifna is understood;
m a more extended sense, all the sacrifices accompanied by Mantram.

The fifi^h privilege of the Brahmans is that of giving alms and
presents ; which it may be supposed they indulge in less willingly than
in the sixth, which consists in the right of receiving them. But it
must be allowed that there are a great number of people of this cast
who practise hospitality and exercise other works of charity. Yet, as
in the eyes of all the members of this sect, every other man is an
object of indifference and even of contempt, we may be allowed to
lay it down as a general remark, that generosity and compassion are
virtues not natural to the Brahmans.

Among the presents which they permit to be made them, there are
some which they particularly approve. These are gifts of gold, or in
land; gifts of clothing, of grain, and of cows. Milk being their chief
article of food, the last sort of gift is one of the most agreeable.
Donations of land are extremely common in many places, fi'om the
generosity of the princes, who exempt them from the tribute paid by
other landholders. These lands descend, with their immunities, from
generation to generation. They do not themselves cultivate them, unless
poverty compels them, but they keep farmers under them who take
the management, for which they receive one half of the produce for
their pains. The villages which are thus exempted from all taxation,
and inhabited by Brahmans are called by the name of Agraram or
Jgravaram; an expression composed of two words which signify a
portion of ground. There are many, such in the various provinces of
the peninsula.

RIGHTS OF THE BBAHMACHARI. 105

Besides receiving the revenue of these lands, the Brahmans discharge
the various functions of worship in the greater part of. the temples.
They engross the principal part of the income of the lands assigned to
defray their expences, as well as the offerings made by the Hindus to
the idols. These two last sources of wealth are very abundant.

There is also a work of charity which greatly prevails in this country,
which consists in giving them great entertainments, which are often
followed with presents of money or cloth. But we shall leave this
source of their income till we come to treat of the public festivals called
Satnaraddhnam,

The Brahmans in asking and receiving alms or donations, seem to
proceed upon their right. They have no shame in taking or asking
for what they are in want of When they ask, they do it boldly, but
not with insolence, as the Moorish fakirs and the Vishriuvite mend^•
cants do. Nor do they, like the latter, the Dasaru or Andkrasj make a
trade of begging by asking alms from door to door.

But if you will not give to the Brahmans, you 'must not amuse them
with vain promises. This, they say, would be a heinous sin, and
would assuredly draw down a severe chastisement upon him who
should attempt it. One of their authors proves this by the following
illustration.

" Karta! Karta!" screamed an ape, one day, when he saw a fox feed-
ing on a rotten carcase : " thou must, in a former life, have committed
some dreadful crime, to be doomed to a new state in which thou feedest
on such garbage." " Alas!" replied the fox, "I am not punished
worse than I deserve. I was once a man, and I then promised some-
thing to a Brahman, which I never gave him. That is the true cause
of my being regenerated in this shape. Some good works which I did
have obtained for me the indulgence of remembering what I was in my
former state, and the cause for which I have been degraded into this."
The silly Hindu gives such a story his implicit faith ; and the wily
Brahman knows well how to profit by his credulity. *

Another privilege which they very generally enjoy is an exemption
from the taxes imposed on houses. They are also free from the tolls
levied upon goods in the districts which are subject to the princds.

XOg RIGHTS OF THE BRAHMACHARI.

And they are rarely subjected to any corporal punishment, however
atrocious their offences may be.

The murder of a Brahman for any c^use whatever, is one of the five
great crimes acknowledged by the Hindus, which would without doubt
draw down some signal and awful calamity over the whole land where
it should be committed.

It is thought quite sufficient to condemn a Brahman to restitution
and heavy fines, when he happens to be guilty of malversation in office
and embezzles the public money ; which firequently occurs.

However, under the dominion %{ the Europeans and Mahometans,
where their sacred and inviolable character is not so much respected,
they must undergo, like other Hindus, the punishments due to their
crimes. The Moors sometimes have them cudgelled to death, unless
they redeem themselves at a large price in money, of which their op-
pressors are still more covetous than of blood. But the Brahmans are
so attached to their wealth, or rather they are so well acquainted with
the character and disposition of those who desire to rob them of it, and
know so well that if they once were seen to yield to any torture in the
smallest degree they would never be free from it, while any property
remained to them ; that they prefer to suffer patiently whatever can be
inflicted rather than submit to the smallest exactions.

I. know firom good authority that the last Musalman prince who
reigned in the Mysore, being very desirous to seize upon the wealth
which certain Brahmans of his country possessed, a measure which was
very customary with him wherever he suspected a man to be rich;
those men set all his cruelty at defiance for the space of eighteen
months, in which time he was unable to extract any thing from them.
Yet during that whole period he had employed threats, imprisonment,
chains, and every kind of bodily punishment which the agents of his
craelty were able to invent. But all was unavailing. They bore all
those savage trials with the most heroic firmness. At length, their per-
iecutors were obliged to yield, and to let them go, with the shame of
having tortured men for no cause, and without the gain of one farthing,
although it was afterwards ascertained that they had considerable
wealth.

BIGHTS OF THE BRAHMACHAIUU

lot

When the Brahmans find themselves involved in troubles like these»
there is no falsehood or perjury whicli they will^ not employ for the pur-
pose of extricating themselves. Nor is this to be wondered at, since
they are not ashamed to declare openly that untruth and false swearing
are virtuous and meritorious deeds when they tend to their own advan-
tage. When such horrible morality is taught by the theologians of
India, is it to be wondered at that falsehood should be so predominant
among the people ?

• \

p 2

( A08 )

CHAP. III.

OF THE EXACTNESS WITH WHICH A TOUNG BRAHMAN MUST SHUN EXTERNAL
DEFILEMENT, AND THE DIFFERENT PRACTICES IN THIS RESPECT.

XjlLL Hindus, in general, pay the most scrupulous attention and care
to avoid whatever can, in their imagination, defile their person or appa-
rel. It is more than probable that the Brahmans have communicated to
them these habits, being themselves more deeply tinctured with them
than the Hindus belonging to other casts. In their conduct aud the
whole intercourse of life, the Brahmans have nothing so much at heart
as Cleanliness ; and as it is this quality, influencing their whole manners,
that gives them in a great measure the superiority which they assert
over the other tribes, I shall treat of it fully in this chapter ; more espe-
cially as it is one of the principal objects of a Brahmachari to cultivate
at an early age those habits which in their estimation form a part of
good education.

A human dead body inspires horror in every country. It cannot be
touched but with the greatest repugnance ; and it excites some feeling
of uncleanness afterwards. But the Hindus feel this sensation if they
have but assisted at a funeral. When the ceremony is over they in-
stantly immerse themselves in water, and no person can return home
from such a duty until he be purified in that manner from the unclean-
ness which he is thus supposed to have contracted. Even the news
of the death of a relation, though at a hundred leagues distance,
has the same effect ; and a person hearing such tidings would be con-
sidered impure by ail around him until he had bathed; although

EXTERNAL DEFILEMENT. 109

it is the near relations only and not strangers that would be so conta-
minated. *

Agreeably to the same feeling, a Hindu is no sooner dead than they
hasten to inter the body ; and until it is carried away, neither those
in the house nor any in the neighbourhood can either eat or drink
or go on with their occupations. I have seen the ceremonies at a
temple where many were assisting, stopped suddenly and suspended
until a corpse in the same street should be buried.

It is not thought sufficient to perfume merely the apartment in which
a person has died. A Furohita Brahman must necessarily purify the
house and remove the stain by means of the Mantram and his holy
water ; and until this is accomplished no person must enter.

Child-birth and periodical changes render a woman unclean. For a
month after lying-in she must touch none of the earthen vessels of the
house nor the clothes of any one ; far less their persons. When the
period expiree, she washes herself by plunging into the river, if there
be one near ; or more commonly by having water poured over her body
and head.

To efface the periodical stain, they wash themselves in the same man-
ner on the third day, when they return to their home, from which they
were excluded for the three days of their un.cleanness. Houses of
moderate convenience have places separate and distinct, for their re-
ception during that period ; but the poor, who have not this advantage,
turn their women into the street, to a little corner set apart for that
purpose, where they stay the time allotted, without communication with
any one.

In the two cases we have mentioned, it would by no means be suffi-
cient to wash in plain water the clothing which the woman then wore ;
but it is necessary to send it to the bleacher to be scoured. Even
when brought home from this last operation, the Brahmans are
not satisfied till they have again passed it through water. This last

* This sort of defilement, occasioned by the death of any one, was recognized among the
Israelites. Numbers, ix. 6, 7, and 10. and xix. 11 and 18. Their manner of purifying
themselves from the stain occasioned by a dead body was very nearly the same as among the
Hindus.

J jQ "EXTERNAL DEFILEMENT.

practice» which they always follow even when they provide them-»
selves with new? clothes, arises from the consideration that the
bleacher and weaver being Sudras» will necessarily have affected them
with a stain which the use of water is necessary to remove.

The wives of the sect of Siva» under like circumstances, have a
practice quite peculiar to themsdves, and on that account deserving
notice ; for they think they sufficiently efface a periodical uncleanness
by rubbing their foreheads with ashes ; after which easy ceremony they
are held to be pure. They call it Bhashmamanam or the bath of ashes.
Thus it has happened that, in the one party, frivolous and excessive
attentions have degenerated into superstition ; and in the other, super*
stition has occasioned the neglect of a practice perhaps necessary in a
hot climate.

It is not, as many authors seem to believe, a prejudice quite con-»
fined to the Hindus, to consider an earthen vessel as much more sus*
ceptible of pollution than one of copper or any other metal. The latter
may be purified merely by washing it, while the former becomes quite
unserviceable and must be broken in pieces. The same rule is pre-
scribed to the Israelites in Leviticus, ii. 32, 33. Among the Hindus,
while the earthen vessels are new, and in the hands of the vender, any
person may handle them ; but from the moment they have been put
in water, they can serve the person only who has employed them
or those with whom he can eat according to the rules of his cast. The
Brahmans carry their nicety and delicacy on this point so far as not to
permit Sudras and other strangers to enter their kitchen, or to have any
other means of seeing their earthen vessels. A look from them would
defile them, and make it necessary to break them. This custom, I
imagine, may proceed fi-oçi the earthen vessels in India being unglazed,
which leaves them with open pores, and may lead to the conclusion
that they easily attract what is unclean.

It is the same with clothes as with dishes; some being susceptible
of being soiled, and others not. Of the latter kind are stuffs made
of silk, and clothes of certain vegetable substances. It was on this
account that all the ancient Brahmans of the solitary order, were
always clothed with the last mentioned fabrics, and many of the

EXTERNAL DEFILEldENT. m

Brahmans of the present time clothe themselves in the former, in many
cases, particularly at their meals. Some physicians of their cast will
not feel the pulse of a sick Sudra but through a shred of silk to prevent
immediate contact with his skin. With regard to Cotton, it is unfor-
tunately subject to contract impurity from the touch of persons of an
inferior cast, and particularly by that of Pariahs or Europeans. A
Brahman who piques himself on his delicacy, shews, in a case of this .
kind, a thousand squeamish tricks, and in the intercourse of life is
obliged to move under perpetual constraint. Finding it utterly im-
possible, in towns and other frequented places, to avoid an accidental
contact with people of all degrees, the very delicate Brahmans shun
such places and retire into the villages. But those amongst them in
whom self-interest predominates over the desire of acquiring the fame
of a zealous observance of their rules, relax a little in this observance,
and get off by shifting their clothes as soon as they get home. They
tumble what they take off into the w^ter, and thus the whole unclean-*
ness is got rid of.

Leather and every kind of skin, except those of the tyger and
the antelope, are held to be very impure. They must never touch
with their hands the pantoufles and sandals which they wear on their
feet. A person w]^o rides on horseback must have some stuff to cover
the saddle, the bridle and stirrup leathers, to avoid all contact with
skin. The most disagreeable of all European fashions in their eyes is
that of boots and gloves ; and they hold a man to be extremely un-
refined who does not shrink to touch the slough of a carcase.

A Brahman who is particular in his delicacy must attend also to
what he treads upon. It would cost him a washing if he should touch
a bone with his foot, or a broken pot, a bit of rag, or a leaf from
which one had been eating. He must likewise be careful where he sits
down. Some devotees always carry their seat with them, that is a
tyger or antelope's skin, which are always held pure. Some are con-
tented with a mat : the rich take a carpet ; but one may even squat on the
ground without defilement, provided it be newly rubbed over with
cow-dung. This last specific is ^so used as a daily purification of the
Hindu houses from the defilement occasioned by comers and goers.

1 12 EXTERNAL DEFILEMENT.

When thus applied, diluted with water, it has the farther advantage of
destroying the insects which would otherwise annoy them.

Their mode of eating their meals also requires much circumspection
and gravity. However numerous the company may be, it would be
unpolite to address conversation to any person during dinner. They
eat in silence, and no conversation begins till they have ended the
repast and washed their hands and mouths. The left hand, on this
occasion, as we noticed when speaking of the Grihastha Brahmans,
must not be employed, unless to hold the vessel of water from which
they drink. This last operation is performed not by applying the
vessel to the lips, but by pouring the water from on high into the
mouth. This is the Hindu practice universally ; and it would be con-
sidered a piece of gross impropriety to drink as we do by touching the
vessel with our lips. In eating, great care must be taken that nothing
drops upon the plate, or on the leaf when one is eating apart. If a
single grain of rice should fall, his meal would be at an end ; else he
must cast away the plate so defiled, and bring another, with a fresh
supply of food, in its place.

The reason of this extreme fastidiousness is founded on the Hindu
notion that the saliva is the most filthy and impure secretion that pro-
ceeds from the body, and consequently held in the ^itmost horror. It
is therefore never permitted to any one to spit within doors. If he has
occasion, he must go out.

The fragments qf the repast are given neither to the domestics nor
to the poor, (unless they be Pariahs, who accommodate themselves to
any thing,) but are cast to the crows or dogs. The poor are served with
alms of boiled rice in a proper state, untouched by any one. But they
who follow the usages of their cast, and who must not eat with those
who give them the alms, receive it raw ; and it is in this state only
that Brahmans will take it from persons of another cast.

They rarely eat their food from plates ; and when they do so, it is only
at home. It would be indecorous to use them elsewhere in public
The rice and other articles are served on bits of Banana leaf or some
other leaves sewed very neatly together. They serve but once, and
when they have done eating they take them to a distant place and

^EXTERNAL DEFILEMENT. 113

tlirow them away. To offer a Brahman any thing to eat on a metal or
porcelain plate which others had used, however well it may have been
washed, would be considered as the grossest afiront

With the same feeling, they will use neither spoon nor fork when
they eat; and they are astonished how any one, after having once applied
them to their mouths and infected them with saliva, should venture
to repeat it a second time* When they eat any thing dry, they throw
it into their mouth, so as that the fingers may not approach the lips.

A European once gave a letter of introduction to a Brahman who
had come from a great distance to receive it ; and having sealed it with
a wafer, which he moistened by putting it on his tongue, the Brahman
who observed this, would not touch the letter, and chose rather to
forego any advantage he could derive from the recommendation than to
carry a thing so polluted.

The touch of most animals, particularly that of a dog, is a stain to
the person of a Brahman. It is amusing to see the methods they take
to shun the touch of one, when they see it approaching. If the dog
should actually come in contact with them, they would be obliged
instantly to plunge into the water and wash all their clothes in order to
get free of such a stain.

The dog, nevertheless, is one of the divinities that the Hindus pay
honour to, under the name of Vahira or Bhairava; and the image
of it may be seen in several of their temples.

There are a thousand other ways by which a Brahman may receive
an outward stain j but what we have already stated is sufficient to shew
their feelings in that particular. It is principally for the purpose of
purification from all such uncleanness that the bath is so common
amongst them. There are certain rivers and ponds which are esteemed
to have a particular virtue of this kind, and all the Brahmans of the
neighbourhood repair thither regularly every day to bathe. Those
who, by residing too far from such privileged places, are out of the
reach of such an advantage, must content themselves with the tank or
well of their own village. In many parts, the other casts are not
admitted either to bathe or draw water from the places set apart for

1X4 EXTERNAL DEFILEMENT.

the ablutions of the Brahmans. If they should trespass, their audacity
would bring down a prosecution upon them. But, in places where they
are not absolute masters, they are obliged to be somewhat more for-
bearing.

A Brahman rarely passes a day without bathing ; and such as desire
to attract the particular regard and esteem of the public, by the strict
observance of their customs, practise it three times every day.

It is the general practice of the Indians to rub their, head and
body well with oil before they bathe ; and they remove the grease by
applying the juice of certain plants, and then having warm water
poured over all their body. This last ceremony is never omitted with
regard to the dead, before they are taken to the grave or the pile ;
and it belongs to the nearest relations to perform it

( lis )

CHAP. IV.

OF THE IKTSRIOR DEFILEMENT OF THE BODY; OF THE ABSTINENCE OF THE
BBAHMANS» AND THE PARTICULAR HORROR OF THE HINDUS FOR THE FLESH
OF THE COW.

l5£SID£S the external pollution which goes no deeper than the skin»
the Brahmans and the greater part of the Hindus admit another sort
which penetrates into the body, and exists there until it is removed by
some remedy adequate to that effect. It is difficult to dispute that
there is some foundation for their notions on this subject of inward
undeanness. The excessive perspiration of some, and the sort of dis-
eases which many others are affected with, appear distinctly to shew
that, from some cause inherent in warm climates, or in the nature of the
bodies of those that inhabit them, the blood of most of them is impure.
The Brahmans, setting out upon this principle, have restricted themselves
to certain practices by which they pretend that the body is defended
from impurities, many of which are caught by infection. The atten-
tion to be paid to this consideration is therefore not without foundation)
although they have strayed beyond it in an infinite number of silly ob*
servances which common sense derides.

Water is the ordinary drink of the Brahmans. It must be drawn
and carried with care, and by none but persons of the cast To drink
what had been drawn or carried by Sudras would be considered an ex-
traordinary offence, and would cause an internal taint, requiring much
time and many ceremonies to purge. Yet in many cases the Brahmans
and Sudras are obliged to draw their water from the same well. They
must be careful, however, that the pitcher of the one does not touch
that of the other ; for if they should come into contact, the Brahman

ft2

INTERNAL DEFILEMENT.

would infallibly be obliged to break his, if an earthen one, or if made
of metal, to have it well scoured with sand and water. To avoid this
inconvenience, the Brahmans, wherever they are supported, interdict
the Sudras from approaching their wells. This prohibition is still more
• strongly enforced on the Pariahs, who, when hard pressed for water,
are seen bringing their pitchers half way and entreating the Sudras to
give them a supply. Where the Mahometans bear sway, indeed, it
is common to see Brahman, Sudra, and Pariah all drawing from the
same well, regardless of all distinctions. Nor are they much better ob-
served in some European provinces, though I myself can bear witness
to an insurrection occasioned by a Pariah woman who irregularly ven-
tured to draw water at the common well.

There is a kind of beverage very prevalent and in great request in
India, which is a preparation of curds beat down in water. It is thought
to be a wholesome and refreshing drink even although the makers and
venders are Sudras, and that it is often no better than water with a
slight dash of white. The Brahmans drink it greedily, and when re-
proached for swallowing, without scruple, water brought by Sudras,
they assert in their vindication that the mixture of curd, the product
of the cow, purifies the whole. Thus, where their convenience is con-
cerned, they are at no loss to discover a justification.

But they have a great aversion to a liquor called Callu in Tamul,
which is drawn by incision from the cocoa, palm, and some other spe-
cies of trees. It is sweet and refreshing when newly extracted from
the tree, but when drank to excess it inebriates. By distillation, it is
converted into a sort of brandy, which is no less prohibited by the
Brahmans and all other good casts than the Callu itself. All intoxi-
cating liquors occasion internal uncleanness which requires a great
number of ceremonies to efface.

Drunkenness is in general very much detested among the Hindus.
A notorious drunkard cannot escape with a gentler punishment than
the degrading infamy of being expelled from his cast. There are
scarcely any but the vile Pariahs who drink such liquors openly ; and
their conduct in this only adds to the universal contempt in which they
are held. Some Brahmans, however, it must be confessed, especially

' ,

INTERNAL DEFILEMENT. J 17

in the European establishments, exceed a little on this score ; but they
take all possible precautions to keep secret so enormous a breach of
their customs.

The air one breathes may also communicate inward uncleanness in
certain cases. This would decidedly happen if some whiffs of smoke
should reach a Brahman from a funeral pile where a body is con«
suming.

In Bome districts the Pariahs are obliged to make a long circuit when
they perceive any Brahmans in the way, that their breath may not in-
fect them or even their shadow fall upon them as they pass. The Su-
dras are obliged to keep at a certain distance when they speak to them,
and even then they are bound in good manners to hold their hands
over their mouths to prevent their breath from being offensive.

The horror of a Pariah, which has been inspired into them from their
infancy, is so great, and the defilement from touching them is so much
dreaded, that an instance seldom occurs of youthful passion impelling
a Brahman to an intercourse with women of that vile cast. It is to be
wished, for the honour. of the Sudras, that as much could be said for
them.

But the most striking example of the pains taken by the Brahmans
to avoid internal defilement, is the abstinence from Meat, which they
all profess. This is to be understood not as relating to all living crea-
tures merely, but to whatever has had the animating principle, such as
eggs of all kinds, from which they are as much restricted as from flesh.
They have also retrenched from their vegetable food, which is the great
fund of their subsistence, all roots which form a head or bulb in the
ground, such as onions ; and those also which assume the same shape
above ground, like mushrooms and some others. Or, are we to sup-
pose, that they had discovered something unwholesome in the one spe-
cies, and proscribed the other on account of its fetid smell ? This I
cannot decide, all the information I have ever obtained from those
amongst them whom I have consulted on the reasons of their absti-
nence from them, being, tha^t it is customary to avoid such articles, to-
gether with all those that have had the germ of the living principle.
This is what is called in India, to eat becomingly/. Such as use the pro-

1X8 ABSTINENCE FROM ANIMAL FOOD.

hibited articles cannot boast of their bodies being pure» according to
the estimate of the Brahmans. .1 am aware that, amongst these also,
some secret infractions of the rule have occurred ; but the secrecy with
which it is violated proves that it is generally observed ; and it may
be fairly assumed that the great body of the Brahmans rigidly abstain
from all sorts of animal food, as well as from whatever has had the
principle of vitality.

The history of the world furnishes no example of abstinence so long
persisted in as in the case of the Brahmans, and so religiously and
universally observed. This practice, followed by the noblest part of a
great nation, by people living in this manner with their wives and .
children, without ever forming a thought of departing from it in the
most grievous diseases, has probably endured amongst them several
thousands of years, affording in my judgment a convincing proof of
their great antiquity. I conceive it to be the continuation of the life
which men led before the flood ; in those times when the juices of the
earth had not yet suffered any change, and the nourishing herbs and suc-
culent fruits yielded all the nourishment that was required. Men, in that
era, even after their corruption, still gave proofs of some remains of their
pristine innocence and of the gentleness of their original nature, by the
horror which they so long kept up at the shedding of blood. And, in all
probability it was the forbearance from every living thing, and the sim-
ple use of the vegetable productions, that contributed in part to the
long life of the primitive patriarchs. It was not till after the flood,
that men, grown more cruel and voracious, or perhaps no longer finding
in the firuits of the earth the same nourishing properties they had for-
merly possessed, fell into the habit of shedding blood, committing
murder, and covering their tables with dead carcases.

The Brahmans, or those rather from whom they derive their origin»
separating in good time from the rest of the original descendants of
Noah, before the practice of eating flesh had become common, adhered
to the first practice of their fathers, and transmitted to their posterity
that dread of the effusion of blood which was common to all men be-
fore the deluge, and which the Brahmans alone have kept up unaltered
even to our times. Is it their nature that has degenerated, or ig
it ouri f

ABSTINENCE FROM ANIMAL FOOD. 1x9

So far frotn our having any reason to believe that this rigorous absti-
nence of the Brahmans has declined or is falling into disuse, we see
that, even amongst the Sudras, the better classes follow the same cus-
tom ; and the observance of it raises them in the estimation of the
public It is said of persons, when one intends to do them honour, that
they are people who abstain from meat; and those who aspire, through
this practice, to inward purity, are also remarked to become more at-
tentive to their exterior cleanliness by more frequently bathing and
wearing more decent attbe.

This abstinence, universal among the Brahmans, and which has for
its constituent principle interior purity, is still maintained, as we have
already remarked, by those Hindus who are particularly addicted to the
worship of Siva. No person who wears the Lingam must eat any thing
that has had vitality. But as, with all this care about inward purity,
the Lingamites are remarked for external slovenliness, they lose on one
side what they gain on the other, and their abstinence does not raise
them above the other Hindus who eat meat without scruple. It is a
particular reproach to the Lingamites that they allow their women to
remain within their houses and to go about their ordinary affairs at the
time of periodical undeanness ; that they do not compel them to wash
when it is over ; and even that they do not enforce proper precautions
when they are in child-bed, which in warm climates are no less condu-
cive to health than to purity.

The practice of eating as is becomings as the Hindus express it, by
abstaining from whatever has had life, imparts to those who observe it
a sensibility of smell by which they can distinguish the fetid odour of
persons who have ate flesh four-and-twenty hours before. This is a
fact which I have often witnessed, and which may probably be owing
in part to the great perspiration which the heat of the climate produces.

In some casts, they make a curious distinction with regard to absti-
nence from animal food, by permitting it to the men and denying it to
the women.

It is owing in a great measure to the notion of considering as impure
those who eat of animal food, that the separation between the Pariahs
and the other casts has become so extremely wide. They will eat not

120 ABSTINENCE FROM ANIMAL FOOD.

only animals killed on purpose, but also such as die naturally. Oxen
and buffaloes which perish from old age or disease belong to them of
right, and they carry home and greedily devour the tainted carrion:
which they find on the highways and in the fields.

To kill an ox or a cow is considered by the Hindus as an inexpiable
Grime, and to eat their flesh as a taint that can never be effaced. The
disgust which they all have for such a. species of food is so great that the
mere proposal of such a thing would excite many to sickness; and
there is absolutely no instance of a native of any cast, except the Pari-
ahs, who has ever shewn the desire to taste it.

This rigorous prohibition to kill cows, oxen, and bufibloes, and to
feed oil their flesh, may proceed in a great degree fi^m superstition, cm
the idea that all these animals, particularly the cow, are divinities. I
believe, however, that its true origin is a motive more powerfiil in its
influence upon the human mind than any that flow fix>m religion itself,
I mean interest The early legislators well knew the extreme value of
those animals, in a country where every thing they yielded, even to the
dung, serves for the use of mati ; where there is no other resource for
the labours of agriculture, for the carriage of goods and other merchan-
dise fix>m one place to another, and for many other services indispens-
able to civilized life. But, on the other hand, what would become of
the poor inhabitants, who feed only on insipid vegetables, if they were
deprived of the rich and wholesome nourishment derived from the teats
of the cow ? What then might happen if the number of these animals,
in other respects so difficult to keep up in the country, should be daily
diminished by putting their lives at the discretion of a race which, in
all its actions, conducts itself uniformly without reflection, and never
thinks of any thing beyond its immediate wants and desires ; a people
regardless of any evils to which they may be subject to-morrow by the
abuse of what they enjoyed to-day ?

Another motive not less powerful than those we have mentioned,
and which no doubt has also contributed to proscribe this species of
fix>d, is the desire of preserving health. It is certain that beef is an
aliment too rich and heavy in warm climates, especially for the feeble
«tomachs of the natives. The custom of eating it would speedily have

ASSTINENCB FROM ANIMAL FOOD. Jgl

ruined their health. I know Europeans who, having been accustomed
to make it the chief part of their food when in Europe, abstained from
it wholly when they came to India, from observing that as often as they
fed upon it they were tormented with indigestion.

These observations, and perhaps many more of the same nature, pro-
bably occurred to the penetration of those who gave laws to India. On
the other hand they knew too well the character of the people to whose
discretion they committed the life of the most useful, of the most pre*
cious of animals. They knew further that a prohibition would soon be
forgotten or violated unless founded on supernatural authority ; and so
many motives concurring to require their preservatipn, they made them
deities, that a man who slew them might be held as a sacrilegious mon-«
ster, and he who^ ate, of their flesh should be tainted with pollution not
to be effaced.

■

To kill a cow is a crime which the Hindu laws punish with death.
The Pariahs can eat only of the flesh of such of those animals as die
naturally. This is not visited upon them as a crime, but they are con-
sidered to be wretches as filthy and disgusting as their food is revolting.
Indeed the virtuous feeling of indignation is carried to excess against
them : but it is the natural disposition of the Hindus to do nothing of
any sort in moderation. There are, however, some epidemic maladies,
chiefly cutaneous, which I have often seen affecting the Pariahs exclu-
sively, while their neighbours the Sudras were exempt from them;
which seems to corroborate the opinion that the blood of the former is
corrupted by the unwholesome and disgusting food which they use ;
apd this justifies in some degree the treatment which they receive from
the other tribes.

What has contributed to render the European name hateful to the
Hindus, and indeed to sink it in their private thoughts beneath the
Pariahs themselves, is the use which they undisguisedly make of the
fiesh of the cow to satiate their gluttony. I am not at all surprised that
the first European invaders who penetrated into India should have,
shewn so little regard for the most sacred and most universally estab^
lished prejudices of that people, because they were not then aware of
their otigin and motive. But I am really astonished that the behaviour

122 ABSTINENCE FROM ANIMAL FOQD.

of the Europeans^ wheii) upon first setting their feet on the boundary
of India, they began to slaughter the oxen and the cows^ did not excite
an universal insurrection, or that one single man of the sacrilegious in-
vaders escaped the indignation which must have burned in the breasts of
the Hindus, on the murder of those sacred creatures, whom they rank
in the number of their principal divinities.

So enormous a sacrilege, such positive deicide, would have been
ample motive with any other nation to exterminate every individual
who was concerned in it, and to render for ever execrable the memory
of a p^ple that would thus sport with the lives of créatures who stand
amongst the dearest objects of their worship. The forbearance and
patience of the Hindus, who have seen, for upwards of three hundred
years, a handful of Europeans established amongst them, sacrificing
every day to their voracious appetites the divinities whom they adore,
will paint the gentle, the soft, the lenient character of these people more
vividly thap the pencil of the most eloquent historian.

The Egyptians and many other ancient nations have not been so
patient under similar circumstances.

. The principal reason that the people of God had, when captives in
Egypt, for soliciting permission fi*om Pharaoh to retire far into the
desert in order to ofier their sacrifices to the Lord without restraint,
was undoubtedly the fear of being all massacred or stoned to death if
they had dared to celebrate them, according to the invitation of Pharaoh,
on the spot where they dwelt. This was in the midst of the idolatrous
people of Eg3rpt, who paid adoration to some of the animals which
must have been used by the Israelites as burnt offerings. ^^ And
Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, go ye, sacrifice to
your God in the land. And Moses said, it is not meet so to do ; for
we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the Lord ' our
God : L09 shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their
eyes^ and will they not stone us ^" Exodus, viii. 25, 26.

Cambyses rendered himself more detestable to the people of Eg3rpt
by slaying the bull Apis, than he had done by the innumerable cruelties
and all the acts of tyranny which he had exercised upon them.
Amongst that people, to kill, even unintentionally, one of the animals

ABSTINENCE FROM ANIMAL FOOD. 123

held sacred, was the greatest of crimes. The culprits could not be
redeemed from death. A Roman soldier was torn in pieces by the
people, notwithstanding the terror of the Roman name, for accidentally
killing a cat. Diodorus who relates this fact, adds that, during a famine,
the £g3rptians, rather than eat these animals, devoured one another.
The Hindus follow the same course. To whatever extremities they
might be reduted, the greater part of them would much rather suffer
themselves to perish with hunger than support their lives by slaying
and eating the flesh of the cow.

The Europeans, who commit both of these enormities without re-
morse, have by that means rendered their name for ever hateful to the
Hindus ; and if their conduct has not stirred up a universal insurrection
amongst that people, it must, as we have already said, be imputed to
the soil and timid character of the natives, as much as to the far spread
terror of the European name. The feeble Hindus content themselves
with silently weeping over this sacrilegious abuse and horrible
violation of their most sacred customs ; the trampling down of which
they bitterly deplore in secret. In those parts where idolatrous princes
still reign with absolute sway, the murder of a cow would on no pretext
whatever be pardoned. An act so foul and execrable in the eyes of
the Hindus could never be tolerated or endured but in the provinces
where Europeans or Mahometans are the rulers.

To purify the body from all internal * defilement which it can have
contracted, no remedy is accounted more efficacious than the pancha^
karj/aiUj or five substances which proceed from the cow, and have been
already mentioned. This remedy would be of indispensable necessity
for one that had fallen under the last degree of uncleanness ; as if, for
example, a Brahman, under any circumstances that could exist, had
drank water that had been drawn by a Sudra.

As to ordinary stains, from which no care can at all times defend the
most wary, there are many modes of removing them, which I shall by
and by describe ; and if they have the virtue to purify the soul, how
much more efficacious must they be when applied to the stains of the
body ?

R 2

( 124 )

CHAR V.

ON THE DEFILEMENT OF THE SOUL, AND THE REMEDIES USED TO EFFACE IT.

It is a doctrine taught in Hindu books, maintained by the philo-
sophers of that nation, and even sometimes promulgated by the Brah-
mans, that the principal, and indeed the only pollution of the soul
proceeds from Sin ; and that it is the perverseness of the Will that isr
the cause of it. One of their poets, Vemana, expresses himself in
this manner : ^^ it is the water that brings the mud ; and it is the water
that washes it away : the will is the cause of sin ; and the will alone
must remove it." Such a doctrine as this, however badly followed up
in practice, proves at least that the Hindus are not ignorant that the
change of the will is an essential condition for obtaining the remission
of sins and purifying the soul.

But the lights of nature which reason will never suffer to be wholly
extinguished, even in the thickest darkness of gross idolatry, have been
much obscured by the passions to which the Brahmans have become
enslaved. These have persuaded them that, without renouncing sin
and giving it up from the heart, there is a way of purifying the soul
by divers remedies, which, from their extreme facility, are calculated
only to diminish the abhorrence of it, and to lull the guilty in
fatal security. The Panchakaryam^ which we have already noticed,
serves for the " remission of all sins committed with a perfect knowledge.^*
These are the express words of a Brahman author. The remedy would
appear to us to be of a disgusting nature ; but the Hindus think other-
wise, and both recommend and practise the frequent use of it, without
shewing any repugnance.

DEFILEMENT OF THE SOUL. 1^

As they consider sin under the notion of an impurity of the soul, it is
not wonderful that they should have thought bathing the proper means
of purifying it There are certain places of bathing which, have the
most complete efficacy. Those who wash their bodies in the Ganges;
the Indus, the Cavery, thé Krishna, and some other rivers, whose
waters are sanctified by superstition; restore the soul and the body firom
all sins and corruptions which they may have contracted. Even the
distance of those rivers may be obviated, and their benefits obtained
without stirring fironi home ; it being quite enough to direct your ima-
gination to their waters, and to think of them while you are performing
your purifying ablutions.

There are also a great many springs and pools consecrated by super--
stition, and much renowned for the spiritual efiects which they com-
municate to those who bathe in them. In some of them it is only every
twelve years that remission of sin can be found. Such, is the case
with the lake of Kumbhakum in the Tanjore. Some have this virtue
every third year. Of this kind is the stream that runs from the moun-
tain of Tifthflr-malay in the Camatic There are still many other
privileged spots which possess a periodical virtue for purifying soul and
body from uncleanness. •

When the year and the day arrive for bathing in those sacred waters,
a crowd of people almost without number, who have been previously
apprised of it by messengers sent to all parts by the Brahmans, who
are interested in propagating the superstition, assemble as pilgrims, and
arrange themselves all round the water at the happy time. They
wait for the favourable hour and moment of the day; and on the
instant of the astrologer's announcing it, all — men, women, children,
plunge into the water at once, and with an uproar that is not to be
imagined. In the midst of the confusion some are drowned, some
suffocated, and still more meet with dislocated limbs. Bu( the fate of
• those who lose their lives is rather envied than deplored. They are
considered as martyrs of their zeal; and this happy death lets them
pass immediately into the abode of bliss, without being obliged to im*
dergo another life upon earth.

ISS DBFILEMENl' OF THE SOUL.

: r The period of an Eclipse is also a privileged time for washing away
the imparity of the souL Wherever the bathing takes place, it is efiec*
tual at that time ; but particularly when made in the sea. When per-
formed at the solstices, or the equinox, on the eleventh day of the
moon, and some other particular epochs, the virtue is also great. The
disemboguement of one river, or the confluence of two are likewise
considered very favourable situations. But it would be altogether end-
less to pursue this subject.

The Mantras, the mere sight of great meâ, particularly of Gurus, the
thinking upon Vishnu, are not less effectual than bathings for cleansing
the soul. Pilgrimage to certain temples or other places, become famous
by the superstition of the country, the mere view of the summit of
very high mountains, wOl procure the pardon of sin. One of these
privileged mountains exists in the district of Coimbetur in the Cama«
tic, called Nilagiri-malaj/y which is supposed to be the loftiest in the
province ; and, upon that ground alone, the Hindus, whose principle ift
is to deify whatever is extraordinary in nature, have converted it into
a sacred place. The access to the summit being very difficult, the
mere sight of it, which may be had at a great distance, is sufficient to
effect the forgiveness of sins in those who visit it with the intention of
obtaining this favour. And the visits to it are therefore not unfrequent.

A Brahman once, after pursuing a dog four times round a temple of
Siva, killed him with one stroke of his cudgel at the gate of the tem-
ple ; and for this achievement he obtained the pardon of all his sins,
and the distinguished honours of being transported to the Kailasa or
Paradise of Siva. Admission into the Vaikuniha or Paradise of Vishnu,
was granted to a great sinner for pronouncing, though in a blasphemous
way, the name of Narayana^ one of the appellations of Vishnu.

All these anecdotes are taken from Indian books. But, even through
the thick darkness with which idolatry has overspread the mind of the
Hindus, we may discern a ray distinctly pointing to the fall and cor- *
ruption of human nature, and the necessity of some remedy for repairing
its errors and restoring it to its original state.

Besides the sins committed in his present life, which a Brahman has
to atone for as far as he is able, he must also attend to the expiation of

DEFILEMENT OF THE SOUL.

127

those which he had committed in preceding lives. To be bom a Brah-
man is no doubt the most blessed of all regenerations^ and i3 bestowed
only on the accumulated merit of a long course of good deeds performed
in preceding states of existence. But a new birth is itself a proof that
some faults remained unexpiated^ else the soul would have been trans-
ported at. once to the residence of bliss, and delivered from the punish-
ment of revolving from one generation to another.

Good works, such as giving alms to the Brahmans, erecting places of
hospitality on the highways, building temples, contributing to the ex-
pences of worship, digging tanks, and many other meritorious acts of
charity, when united to the various remedies already described, greatly
enhance their efficacy, and contribute exceedingly to the cleansing of
the soul from recent stains, as well as from those which have adhered to
it from its former existence.

I will not say any thing here of the obstacles which the soul continu*
ally experiences in its progress towards purification, from its family
connection, its cast^ perverse disposition, and many other sources of
sin which occur in the course of life : but I will return to the subject
hereafter.

( 128 )

CHAP. VI.

■

CONJECTURES RESPECTING THE ORIGIN OF THE RITES OF THE BRAHMANS

CONCERNING UNCLEANNESS AND PURITY.

X HE conduct and the manner of thinking of the Hindus respecting
undeanness and the means of purification, are so different from any
thing to be seen in other nations, that it would be very desirable if we
could discover some evidence to enable us to discern with certainty
what has given rise to those rules of conduct which they so invariably
pursue. Something approaching to their customs is perceivable in
several parts o£ the books of the Old Testament ; in the conduct of
Jacçb, for example, who, in proceeding to offer sacrifice to God, at
Bethel, commanded his family to ^^ be clean and change their gar-f
ments*;'* in the aversion of the Egyptians for shepherds f, in their
hatred of strangers ; and above all in the law prescribed to the children
of Israel, through Moses, which directs them in the course to be followed
with regard to several real and formal impurities |. The rules on this
subject, minutely laid down in Lieviticus, are in many respects the same
with those which are now in full vigour among the Bi^ahmans.

The learned, I believe, agree almost unanimously that Moses, in pre-
scribing laws on this subject to the people of God, did no more than to
regulate and fix the notions of the Jews on many points already estab-
lished and observed. I suspect, even, that by the rules which he laid
down on the subject of different sorts of uncleaoness, he sought to
moderate the excess which they ran into in such matters in Egypt, as
well as in most parts of Asia. In afler times the Israelites did not
confine themselves to the instructions laid down by their holy legisla*

♦ Gen. xxxv. 2, f Gen. xlvL 34# ' % Levit v, xi. xii, xiii, xiv, xv.

UNCLBANNESS AND PURITY. J29

tor ; but, as far as appears, exceeded his rules ; and probably it is from
their extreme eagerness in this respect, acquired in Egypt, that many
of the practices of the Jews of the present day have been deduced, for
which there is no authority in their own ancient law.

Although, in comparing the rules of the one with those of the other,
many of the Jewish rites correspond with those of the Brahmans ; yet,
in many others, the difference and even the opposition is so striking,
as to make it impossible that the one could have proceeded from the
other by any communication. And as I have never seen any thing in
the history of the Egyptians and Jews that could induce me to believe
that either of these nations or any other on the face of the earth, have
been established earlier than the.Hindus and particularly the Brahmans;
so I cannot be induced to believe that the latter have drawn their rites
from foreign naJ;ions. On the contrary, I infer that they have drawn
them from an original source of their own. Whoever knows any thing
of the spirit and character of the Brahmans, their stateliness, their
pride and extreme vanity, their distance, and sovereign contempt for
every thing that is foreign, and of which they cannot boast to have been
the inventors, will agree with me that such a people cannot have con-
sented to draw their customs and rules of conduct from an alien
country.

But if it is not by communication with other nations, as old as them-^
selves, that the Hindus have acquired customs and rules which subsist
among them to the present day, and unite them indissolubly in a na-^
tional mass, from what source do they derive them ?

On so obscure a subject we can only offer conjectures ; and mine, I
hope, will not be wide of probability.

Even before the flood, men distinguished, in the sacrifices which they
offered to God, between clean animals and unclean ; things that were
pure and things that were impure. The Lord approved that distino
tion, and commanded Noah and his children to observe it when they
introduced the various living creatures into the ark. (Gen. chap, vii.)
And, although God, afler the deluge, authorised the human race, who
had been, up to that epoch, nourished by the simple productions of the
0oil, to use thenceforth more solid food, by substituting the flesh of

130 UNCLBANNESS AND PUBlTy.

aniiHals,, which were then solemnly submitted to the dominion of man
(Gen. chap, ix.); it is nevertheless probable that this distinction between
clean and unclean animals^ and things pure and impure, remained long
engraven on the minds of the first men who lived after the flood.
Their impressions on this subject were probably de^ened by die or-
dinance of God which allowed them to eat the flesh of the living crea-
tures^ but forbade them expressly to taste their blood. (Gen. chap.ix. 4.)
At ftOry ratC) it appears beyond all doubt that the notions about defile-
ment, founded on the distinction between things clean and undeàn,
existed before the deluge. It is probable, therefore, that the practices
of the Hindus upon pollution and purity proceed firom that original
source, and that their tenets on this subject were transmitted* to them^
at least in part, by their first legislators, who lived soon after the flood.

It is well known that many other ancient nations, in common with
the Hindus, entertain those opinions respecting bodily and spiritual
uncleanness, and, like them, have recourse to water or fire, and some-
times to both, for purification. While the people of India were con«
secrating the memory of the Gaines and the Indus, the waters of the
Phagis were also regarded as having the virtue to purify the body and
the soul firom all uncleanness, not only by the inhabitants of Colchis
or Mingrelia, but by all who sailed to the mouth of that river ; and
the Egyptians attributed the same quality to the Nile.

When the Flood was but lately gone by, and mankind still formed
but one people, ihey would naturally turn their attention to the means
of preserving health. Cleanliness would at once strike them as ser-^
viceable in this respect ; and as they could not then procure it by a
firequent change of clothing, they would have recourse to the constant
use of the bath. In spite of this, diseases would be more common
than they had ever been before the déluge, as every thing in nature
had degenerated. It would be remarked that many of those diseases
were occasioned by the improper food which they took. This would ac-
cordingly be proscribed as impure. Many remarks on the subject would
occur, some good and others bad, which would spread, and lead to con-
clusions respecting what was usefiil and what pernicious, and to distinctions
between the clean and the unclean. Nevertheless, in such times, when

ÛNCLEANNESS AND PURITY. 131

medicine, like every other science, was in its cradle, it is probable that
cleanliness and the bath would long continue to be the universal re-
medy for all evil, and every species of corporeal impurity.

But, being compelled to separate, and to spread population over the
various countries of the earth, they carried with them, under their dif-
ferent leaders, the arts necessary for society, with the customs already
established with a view to the preservation of health. The warmth of
the climate of India, which probably was one of the first countries in-
habited, would incline its original colonists to make strict regulations
for the exact observance of the necessary practices. Among the new
race, or their immediate successors, men would arise, having authority^
but superstitious and extravagant in their noticms, who would cany
much farther than their ancestors had done, the notions respecting
filth and purity. Observing, at the same time, that in the country
which had fallen to their lot, every thing tended to carelessness and
hurtfiil indifierence, they established severe laws upon the minutest
observances. But in their wish to promote the good of the people and
prevent a fatal decline, .they plunged them into an abyss of error, which
has been rendered impassable by the absurd imaginations of their
poets.

At the same time, if we have good reason to reproach the Brahmans
with their outrageous strictness in point of purity ; are they to be con-
demned, on the other hand, for manifesting hoiror at the excessive
beastliness of many of the Europeans who come in their way ? What
ought they to think on seeing the disgusting appearance of those wha
compose the crews of our ships, or when th^y observe our soldiers,
when not on duty, drunk perhaps, and deprived of reason, roUijig in
the dirt in presence of the multitude, and scarcely retaining the i^
pearance of men ?

s 2

( 132 )

CHAP. VIL

OF MARBIAGE AMONG THE BRAHMAMS.

JVt ARRIAGË is to an Hindu the great, the most essential of all ob*
jects ; that of which he speaks the most and looks forward to from the
remotest distance. A man who is not married is considered to be a
person without establishment, and almost as a useless member of society»
Until he arrives at this state he is consulted on no great affairs, nor
employed on any important trust In short, he is looked upon as a
man out of the pale of nature. A Brahman who becomes a widower
is likewise held to have fallen from his station ; and nothing is more
urgent upon him than to resume the marriage state.

The case is quite different with respect to Widows. . It never enters
into their view to procure a new establishment, even when they lose
their husbands at the age of six or seven : for it is not rare to see
widows no older, particularly among the Brahmans (as has been already
mentioned) where an old man of sixty or upwards takes for his second
wife a child of that tender age. Their prejudices, however, on this
subject, have taken such firm root in their minds, that the bare men-
tion of remarrying th^se young widows would be considered by their
relations and by themselves as the greatest of insults. Yet they are
despised through all India. The very name of widow is a reproach ;
and the greatest possible calamity that can befal a woman is to survive
her husband ; although to marry with another would be held a thou-
sand times more to be dreaded. From that moment she would be
hunted out of society, and no decent person would venture at any time
to have the slightest intercourse with her.

Though Marriage be considered the natural condition of man, yet
Celibacy is not unknown in India. It is even a state respected ; and

OF BfARRIAGE. l$Q

those of their Sannyasis who are known to lead their lives in perfect
celibacy, receive, on that account, marks of distinguished honour and
respect. But this condition cannot be embraced excepting by those
who devote themselves to a life of seclusion from the world, and of
perpetual contemplation, such as that class of enthusiasts do j or by such
as are bound by their profession to discharge the duties of religion to-
wards their neighbours, such as the. Gurus. The Hindus seem to have
felt that the duties of Penitent and Guru were incompatible with those
of the master of a family, and that a man ought to be free from the em-
barrassment and anxiety of one of these stations to be fully able to ac-
quit himself properly of the other. . Tliis was perhaps the chief reason
for allowing the Sannyasis and the greater part of the Gurus to live in
a single state.

The greater number, however, are bachelors only in name. No vir-
tue is less familiar to them than chastity. It is publicly known that
they keep women, and commit breaches of that virtue which they pro-,
fess, that would disgrace the most profane. But their sacred title of
Sannyâsi or Guru raises them above the attacks of the wicked ; and
such human failings, if not carried to great excess, scarcely diminish
the outward reverence and respect which they receive from the silly
vulgar.

At the same tinie, I cannot but believe that the small number of real
Sannyasis or Penitents who are still found living in woods and deserts,
wholly retiredfrom the world, and who, through vanity or fanaticism, con-
demn themselves to all sorts of privations, and inure their bodies to the
harshest austerities, actually live in celibacy and altogether unconnected
with women. The severe life which they lead scarcely allows the body to
war. against the spirit. But, as far as concerns the Gurus and Sannyasis,
who scour the country to live on the public credulity, or those who
shut themselves up in a sort of monasteries, and lead a lazy and volup-
tuous life, with no other occupation than that of receiving the presents
and offerings which their numerous votaries, deceived by their false re-
putation for sanctity, bring to them from all quarters ; such men are to ,
be considered as mere impostors, or knaves, who abuse the credulous
populace, under the guise of celibacy, while they are revelling in every

134

OF MARRIAGE.

species of luxury. All that I have heard from various persons who have
lived in their service as domestics, and have been admitted to familiar
intercourse with them, confirms me in the opinion which I have always
entertained, that nothing is more foreign to them than that virtue which
they chiefly affect

Although the state of celibacy be allowed to those who devote them-
selves to a life of contemplation, it is not so with regard to. any class of
women. They cannot profess virginity, however much they may be
attached to that condition. In ancient times,* however» it seems to have
been known among the Hindus ; as frequent mention is made in theit
books of the five celebrcUed Virgins^ who are almost as famous as the
seven celebrated Rishu The Hindu authors speak in lofty terms of
commendation of the care with which they preserved themselves spot-
less, and of the inflexible firmness with which they resisted the solicit-
ations of some powerful seducers, who used every means to overcome
them. Even the most powerfiil of the gods tried to corrupt them, and
were foiled. Many other particulars of these five virgins may be found
in the Bhagavata and some other Hindu books.

Now, however, it is not permitted to women to embrace this holy
profession. The state of subjection and servitude in which they are
held in India cannot admit of their following any employment which
would make them independent and place them beyond the power of
the men. It is an established national rule that women are designed
for no other end than to be subservient to the wants and pleasures of
the males. Accordingly, all females without exception, are obliged to
marry when husbands can be found for them. . They always try to
bring it about before they become really marriageable-; and those who
arrive at that period without finding a husband, seldom presfr^e
their innocence long. Constant experience proves that Hindu girls
have neither sufficient firmness nor discretion to resist, for any length
of time, the solicitations of a seducer ; which is no doubt a strong
reason for disposing of them in marriage so soon.

Those who cannot find a husband fall into the state of concubinage
with those who chuse to keep them, or secretly indulge in those enjoy-
ments which, if known, would expose them to shame.

OF ItABMAGB. 15^

I have taken great pains to learn what is the real spirit of Hindu
jurisprudence on the subject of Polygamy, and the indissolubility of
marriage ; and although I have not arrived at any absolute certainty,
all that i have observed appears to demonstrate that the former is pro-
hibited and the latter established. Persons well acquainted with the
usages of the country have confirmed me in this conclusion, and have
assured me that if there be many instances of polygamy, particularly
among the great, who are suffered to have a plurality of wives, yet it
is really an abuse and an open violation of the customs of the Hindus,
amongst whom marriage-has been always confined to couples ; thou^
in all places the powerful will set themselves above the law.

The custom or law in India which limits marriage to one pair has
been followed by the principal divinities whom the Hindus acknow-
ledge. They were married but to one lawful wife. They have given
SaramxUi only, to Brahma; Lakskmi to Vishnu; and Parvali to
Siva. Sita-devif the wife of Rama^ having proved unfaithful to him,
was carried off by the giant Ravana; but he did not repudiate her o^
that account, nor marry another wife. He went in pursuit of the
ravisher, and commenced a Icmg war against him, in which, after sus-
taining defeats and gaining victories, he at last 'subdu^ his epemy and
regained his consort.

All these stories, and many more of the same kind which I could
adduce, seem to prove that a plurality of legitimate wives was in
ancient times unknown and rejected. It is clear that conjugal fidelity
was not one of the attributes. of those fabulous gods ; but it is no less
certain that they never assign to them more than one woman under the
appellation of wife. Even in modem times polygamy is not tolerated ;
although, as we have already remarked, kings and posons of high
rank are permitted to take two wives, sometimes three, and in some
instances as many as five. Still, this is considered an abuse, although
it is not safe to complain against authority.

Where persons in private life are seen to live with several women,
they are only concubines ; one only being married to him and bearing
the title of wife. The children from her alone are considered legiti-

136

OF SfARRIAGE.

mate. The rest are bastards ; whom the law would exclude from any
share of their father's property, if he died without a will.

I know of one case only where a man already niarried may lawfully
espouse a second wife ; which is, when the first, after long cohabitation,
is pronounced barren. But even in this case, the consent of the first
wife is necessary, and she always continues to be considered as the
man's principal wife, and as superior to the second. Neither is this
second marriage conducted with half the ceremony as the former.

It was for this reason, and for the purpose of raising up a progeny,
that Abraham espoused Hagar, in the life-time and with the consent of
his first wife Sarah« The troubles which were brought * upon this holy
patriarch by bringing two legitimate wives into his house are recorded
in the sacred Scriptures (Gen. xxi.) The same inconveniences and
still worse occur amongst the Hindus who nlarry two wotnen. It
is not therefore an enviable privilege ; and the greater number of
those who have barren spouses, choose rather to abandon the hopes of
children than to be obliged to live with two wives.

The indissoluble nature of marriage is also, as far as I can judge^
equally well established among the Hindus as that of the marriage of
a couple of persons. A man cannot divorcé his wife on any grouAd
whatever. If there are any examples of an opposite kind, it is only
^amongst people of the lowest casts, or of disreputable lives ; or be-
cause the previous marriage had been attended by such impediments
as to render it invalid by the laws of the country. But marriages
legally solemnized can never be dissolved amongst persons of a re*
putable cast, particularly amongst the Brahmans.

If the husband insists on a separation from his wife on account of
adultery» it can only be effected, as with us, quoad mensam et torum ;
and the marriage is not dissolved by it. The woman, after being so
discarded, continues to wear the taïdi or symbol of marriage, and is
not treated otherwise than as the lawful wife of the man from whom
she is separated. He also is obliged to support her as long as she
lives ; and, during that time, he can have no other woman but as a
concubine.

OP MARRIAGir. 137

After these general remarks upon the marriage state, let us now
attend to the ceremonies - and pageantry which the Hindus employ in
the celebration of this solemn contract, which elevates both parties
into their proper sphere^ and, by connecting them with sacred and
indissoluble bands, keeps up the renovation of the world. But, of
the great variety of ceremonies which precede and accompa,ny the
celebration of marriage, the most important and solemn circumstance;
in life, we shall content ourselves with tracing the most prominent.

The father of a young Brahmanàri^ if he be rich and liberal, takes
upon himself all the expence of the marriage of his daughter. Some
divide the burthen with the father of the intended husband; but in
general they take from him a considerable sum of money in return for
having given him their daughter, and oblige him besides to bear the
whole charge of the marriage.

To marry, or to buy a wife, are synonymous terms in this country.
Almost every parent makes his daughter an article of traffic, obstinately
refusing to give her up to her lawful husband until he has rigorously
paid down the sum of money which he was bound for, according to
the custom! of the cast. This practice of purchasing the young women
whom they are to marry, is the inexhaustible source of disputes and
litigation, particularly amongst the poorer people. . These, after the
marriage is solemnized, not finding it convenient to pay the stipulated
sqm, the father in-law commences an action, or more commonly
recalls his daughter home, in the expectation that the desire of getting
her back may stimulate the son-in-law to procure the money. This
sometimes succeeds ; but if the young man is inc^able of satisfying
the avarice of his father-in-law, he is obliged to leave his wife with hini
in pledge. Now, there is time for reflection ; and the father-in-law,
finding that the sum cannot be raised, and that his daughter from he?
youth is exposed to great temptations which might lead to the disgrace
of all his family, relaxes a little, and takes what the son-in-law is ablç
to pay. A reconciliation is thus effected, and the young man conduct^
his wife quietly home.

Men of distinction do not appropriate to their common purpose»
the money thus acquired by giving their daughters in marriage, but lav

13% OF BIARRIÂG£(

it out in jewels^ which they present to the lady on the wedding day.
These are her private property as long as she lives^ and on no acoount
can be disposed of by her husband.

In negociating a marriage, the inclinations of the future spouses are
never attended to. Indeed it would be ridiculous to considt girls c£
that age i and accordingly the choice entirely devolves upon the parents»
Those of the husband attend principally to the purity of the cast ;
while those of the wife are more solicitous about the fortune of the
young man, and the disposition of the intended mother-4n-law of their
daughter.

When a man, with this view, casts his eyes on a young girl, he
begins by satisfying himself through some friend, concerning the incli^
nations of her kindred. When he has ascertained that he is not likely
to suffer the afiront of a refusal, he selects a fortunate day to visit
them, and to solicit her in form, carrying with him a piece of new
cloth for women, a cocoa nut, five bananas, some saffron, and other
articles of that nature. If he should meet upon his way any object of
evil omen ; if a cat, for example, or a fox, or a serpent should cross
the road before him, so as to intercept his progress, he would instantly
return home, and postpone the journey to a more fortunate day.
' All the Hindus have their minds so filled with these silly super-
stitions, that, however necessary any expedition or journey may be,
they will surely defer it, if at the first outset they should be crossed by
any of the creatures above mentioned. I have repeatedly seen labourers
take back their cattle to their stalls, and spend the whole day in idle-
iiessii because, in setting out in the morning, they found that a serpent
had crossed their road.

Afler the young man's father has solicited the girl, and offered
the presents he takes with him, her own father defers his answer
until one of those little lizards, which creep cm the wall, making now
and then a small shrill cry, gives, a favourable augury by one of its
chirps. As soon as the lizard has spoken (as the superstitious Hindus
express themselves) and given a favourable prognostic by its assent,
the &ther of the girr declares that he will voluntarily bestow her in
i|^arriage on the wa of him who itsks her ; after which a great number

OF BIARRIAOB. X39

of ceremonies are performed, answering to our betrothment, and com-
municating to the future Imaband a right to the girl, which prevents
her fiom being given to any other. These ceremonies are followed by
an entertainment ; after which a fortunate month and day are selected
for the marriage, upon due consultation with the astrologer or the

Purohita.

There are^ properly, but four months in the year in which marriage
can be celebrated ; namely, March, April, May, and June. Nuptials
for the second time, may indeed be solemnized in the months of
November and February ; but, in these two months, so mudi attention
must be given to the signs of the zodiac and many other matters, each
more trifling than another, that it is not easy to find a day in which (til
the &vourable circumstances combine.

The custom of restricting marriages to those four months, arises, like
almost all the other customs of the Hindus, from superstition. But t
conceive that the principe motive which originally induced them to fix
on those four months as a fortunate time for marrying was, that the
country labours being then all closed or suspended, on account of the
excessive heat, and the preceding harvest furnishing the means of sup-
plying what the ceremony requires, they look upon that period as af-
fording more leisure and better resources for this important concern
than any other season of the year.

The ceremony of marriage lasts, five days. In the course of it, all
those rites are exhibited which have been described in speaking of the
ceremony of the triple cincture. These we need not repeat ; and such
as are peculiar to the wedding festival, not being in a better taste, we
shall content ourselves with mentioning the most important of them.

The bridegroom and bride are fu-st of all placed under the Pandal^
or alcove with twelve pillars, as formerly described. This is a common
and very useful appendage to the principal houses in India, being
erected before the principal door, and covered with boughs of trees, so
as to shelter the house from the heat o( the sun, and at the same time
to afibrd a convenient recess for strangers who come upon any business
with the owner of the house, when perhaps it is not convenient! !nor
ieven admissible, for him to enter into the dwelling»

T 2

140 ^^ MARRIAGE.

The Pandàl; being on this occasion decorated in the most suped»
manner, the young couple are seated under it upon the little mound of
earth, with their faces turned towards the east The married women
then advance, performing before them the rites of the Aratiy as they
have been already described.

It being desirable to render all the gods, and even the lowest of
them, propitious, the whole of them are invited to the i^edding, and
they are besought to remain there during the whole entertainment of
five days. The same prayer is preferred to the God£ ancestors ; and .
the grandfathers, whom they have seen, are entreated to seek and bring
with them their more ancient progenitors, whom they themselves could
pot have known*

A particular Sacrifice is then offered to Brahma ; which is the more
remarkable that this god, in consequence of a curse denounced against
him by some penitents of former times, has no temple and no regular
worship in any part of India.

I ought not to omit that, before any thing is undertaken, they take
care to place under the Fandal Vighneswara^ the god of obstacles. He
is greatly honoured, as has. been mentioned, because he is greatly feared.
And although the extreme ugliness of his appearance has hitherto
kept him without a wife, they never fail to pay him the utmost atten^
tion in all public ceremonies, lest his displeasure should cast some im*
pediment in the way of their happy accomplishment ; which is the
more to be apprehended from his being so prone to take offence.

As it is necessary, in circumstances so important, that the bridegroom
should be pure and exempt from all sin, he is called upon to offer a
free gift, on the second day, of fourteen flags to one of the Brahmans,
in expiation of the faults he has committed since his investiture with
the Cord.

This act of charity is followed by a sort of interlude, which appears
very absurd after the progress they have made. The bridegroom shams
an eager desire to quit the country, upon a pilgrimage to Benares, to
wash himself there in the sacred waters of the Ganges. He equips
himself as a traveller, and being supplied with some provisions for the
journey, he departs with instruments of music sounding before him, and

II ^

OF BiARRIAGE. 141

accompanied by several of his relations and friends^ in the same man-
ner as when a person is really proceeding on that holy adventure. But
no sooner has he got out of the village than, upon turning towards the
east, he meets his future father-in-law, who finding the object of his
expedition, stops him, and ofiers him his daughter in marriage, if he
will desist from his journey. The pilgrim readily accepts the conditionsj
and they return together to the house.

> After many other ceremonies, the recital of which would be tedious»
they fasten on the right wrist of the young man and on the left of the
girl, the Kankanam^ which is merely a bit of safiîron ; and this particu-*
lar ceremony is conducted with more state and solemnity than any
other during the whole eourae of the festival. It is succeeded by au^
other not less remarkable. -^^ The young man being seated, with his face
turned towards the east, his fiiture father-in-law approaches, andlookr
ing steadily on his countenance, fancies that he beholds in him V the
great Vishnu. With this impression, he ofiers to him a sacrifice ; and
then, making him put both his feet in a new dish filled with cow-dung,
he first washes them with water, then with milk, and again with water }
accompanying the whole with suitable Mantras.

This being finished, he must direct his fixed attention and thought
to all the gods united ; then name each of them separately, one after
another, as far as his memory can serve. To this invocation of th$
gods, he subjoins that of the seven famous penitents, the five virgins,
the ancestor gods,, the seven mountains, the woods, the seas, the eight
cardinal points, the fourteen worlds, the year, the season, the months
the day, the minute, and many other particulars which must likewise
be named andJnvoked.

He then takes the hand of his daughter and . puts it into that of hi^
son-in-law, and pours water over them in honour of the great Vishnu.
This is the most solemn of all the ceremonies of the festival, being the
symbol of his resigning his daughter to the authority of the young man.
She must be accompanied with three gifts ; namely, with a present of
one or more cows, with some property in land, and finally with a Sala^
grama^ which consists of some little amulet stones in high esteem
among the Brahmans, worn by them as talismans and dignified even
with the homage of sacrifices.

143 OF MARBIAGE.

This ceremony which appears to be the foandation of the marriage^
is succeeded by another but little less in importance. All married w€>«
men in India wear at their necks a small ornament of gold called TaMy^
which is the sign of their being actually in the state of marriage, ^^lien
they become widows, this ornament is removed with great form, as wiD
be afterwards described. There is engraved upon it the figure of V^h^
nestvara or Lakshmij or of some other divinity in estimation with the
cast ; and it is festened by a short string dyed yellow with saffixm, com*
posed oi one hundred and eight threads of great fineness. Before
tying it round the neck of the bride, she is made to sit down by the side
of her husband ; and, after some slight preliminary ceremonies, ten
Rahmans make a partition with a curtain of «silk, which they extend,
from one to another, between them and thè^edded pair, whilst the rest
are reciting the Mantras, and invoking Brahma with Sarctswatu Vi$hfiu
with Lakshmiy Siva with Parvati ; and several more ; always coupling
each god with his consort. The ornament is now brought in to be &»-
tened to the neck of the bride. It is presented on a salver neatly
decked and garnished with sweet smelling flowers. Incense is offered
to it, and it is presented to the assistants, each of whom touches it and
invokes blessings upon it. The bride then turning towards the east,
the bridegroom takes the Tahly^ and, reciting a mantram aloud, binds
it round her neck.

Fire is then brought in, upon which the bridegroom offers up the
sacrifice of the Homam; and, taking his bride by the hand, they walk
thrice round the fire while the incense is blazing.

Last of all, he lays hold of her ankle with his right hand, and bringa
it into contact with a little stone which he holds in his ^left;, and whidi
is called the stone of Sandal^ doubtless because it is a kind of paste
formed out of that odoriferous wood. In going through this ceremony^
the bridegroom must have his thoughts fixed on the Great Mountain of
the Norths the native place of the ancestors of the Brahmans.

The meaniitg of the ceremony we have described is not difficult to
divine« By the preceding one, we see the surrender of the girl to her
intended husbuid by her father. Here, the acceptance of her is signi-^
fied by the bridegroom binding the tfihly round the neck of the bride.

OF MARRIAGE.- |45

Homum and the three circuits which the young couple niftke
aitound thé fire, indicate the ratification of a nlutual engagement between
them» as there is nothing more solenm than what is transacted over this
element ; which» among the Hindus, is the most pure of the deitiesi
and therefore the fittest of all others to ratify the solemn oaths of which
it b the most faithfiil memorial.

We have now gone through the principal ceremonials appertaining
to marriage with (Jie omissicm of not a few of smaQer impwtance. But
perhaps we ought to subjoin the following one, which is ccmsidered b^
ibme to rank as high as the preceding.

'. Two baskets, made of bamboo, are placed close together; this species
of wood being preferred, on account of its being thought miore pure and
less subject to be defiled by handling. The. new married pair go each
into one of the baskets, standing upright Two other baskets are
brought, filled with ground rice. The husband takes up one with both
hands and pours what it contains over the head of his spouse. She does
the like to him in her tum« They r^>eat this till they are weary, 'or
till they are admonished that it is enough.

In other casts, it is the assistants that sprinkle the heads of the new
married couple ; and perhaps it signifies only the abundance of temporal
|>lessings which are implored on their behalf. It was practised in other
nations with com ; and it still, in some measure, exists among the
Jews. In the marriage of great princes, pearls are sometimes used in
place of rice or conu

On the evening of the third day, when the constellations appear, the
Purohita, or astrcJoger, points out to the new married pair a very small
star, dose to the middle one in the tail of Ursa Mtyw^ and directs them
both to pay it obmsance ; for it is Arundhati^ he says, the wife of Va-
Msthuj one of the seven famous Penitents.

Next day, before dinner, the bride rubs the legs of hef husband with
aafiron water ; and then he rubs hers m the same manner. I know not
the meaning of this ceremony, or indeed whether it has any. Ceremo-
nies of some kind the Brafamans must have ; and they appear to have
found nothing more serious than this to fill up the present intervals

^44 ^^ MARRIAGE.

While the assembled guests are dining, the bridegroom and bride also
partake, and eat together from the same plate. This is a token of the
closest union ; and two persons the most intimately connected cannot
shew a more evident mark of their friendship than this. Well may the
woman now continue to eat what her husband leaves, and after he has
done ; for they will never sit down again to a meal together. That is
never permitted but at the wedding feast

On the last day, a ceremony is practised remarkable for its singnlar-r
ity. When the husband offers the sacrifice of the Homam^ and when, iq
the usual form, he is casting into the fire the boiled rice sprinkled with
melted butter, the bride approaches and does the same on her part with
rice that has been parched. This is the only instance that I know where
a woman may take part in this sacrifice, which is the most sacred and
solemn of all, excepting the Yajna.

All these ceremonies, with many others which it would be tedious to
detail, being concluded, a procession is made through the streets of the
village. It commonly takes place in the night, by the light of torches
and fire-works. The new married pair are seated in one palanquin^
with their faces towards. each other. They are both highly dressed
out; but the bride in particular is generally covered ovter with jewels
and precious stones, partly the gifi:s of her father and father-in-law ;
but the greater part are borrowed for the occasion.

The procession moves slowly; and their relations and fi-iends come out
of their houses, as they pass ; the women hailing the new married parties
with the ceremony of the Arati^ and the men with presents of silver,
fi*uits, sugar, and betel. Those who receive such presents are obliged,
under the like circumstances, to repay them in their turn. I have
sometimes seen these marriage processions truly magnificent, though
in a style so extremely remote fi-om ours.

Thus ends th& solemnity of marriage among the Hindus. The pomp
which attends their elevation to this state shews the importance which
they attach to it, and also the respect which they entertain, or at least
once entertidned, for the sacred bands which inseparably unite the
husband and the wife.

OF MARRIAGE. I45

I will say nothing of the entertainments inutqally given by the
tions of the two parties after their marriage. Those by. whom they are
given» and the ceremonies which accompany them, differ so little from
what I have already described, in speaking of the admission to the
Triple Cord^ that I forbear to repeat them. But there is one thing well
deserving of remark ; that, ' amongst the ahkiost infinite variety of cere-
monies made use of on the occasion of marri^e, there is not one that
borders on indecency, or has the slightest allusion to an immodest
thought. This is particularly to be noticed amongst a people, who in
all other circumstances of life, where feasts and shews occur, make a
merit of openly and unreservedly violating the rules of modesty and
decorum. -

The marriage festival being over, the young spk>use is taken back to
her father's house, which continues to be her principal abode until she
has grown up into a state fit to discharge all the duties of matrimony.
This epoch is a new occasion for joy and feasting. The relations attend
to celebrate it in the same manner as the marriage, and the greater
part of the ceremonies then practised are now repeated. It is notified to
the father and mother of the young man that their daughter-in-law has
now become a woman, and is qualified to live with her husband. Then,
after completing the ceremonies to which this occasion gives rise, she
is conducted in triumph to the house of her father-in-law, where
she is detained for a while to accustom her to the society of her
husband ; and after a month or two her own parents return and take
her home with them.

The residence of the young woman is thus, for the first and even the
second year, divided between the house of her husband and that of her
father. This is accounted a mark of good understanding subsisting
among them. It is, however, a concord, which most probably, alas !
will too soon be dissolved j when this same young wife, beaten by her
husband and harrassed by her mother-in-law, who treats her as a slave,
shall find no remedy for ill usage but in flying to her father's house.
She will be recalled by fair promises of kinder treatment. They will
break their word ; and she will have recourse to the same remedy.
But at last, the children which she brings into the .world, and other,

X46 ^^ MARRIAGE.

circumstances, will compel her ta do her best, by remaining in her
husband's house, with the shew of being contented with her lot.

In general, concord, the union of minds, and sincere mutual friend-
ship are rarely found in Hindu families. The extreme distance kept
up between the two sexes, which makes the women absolutely passive
in society, and subject to the will and even the caprices of the men,
has accustomed these lords of their destiny to regard them as slaves, and
to treat them on all occasions with severity and contempt. It is there-
fore in vain to expect, between husband and wife, that reciprocal con-
fidence and kindness which constitute the happiness of a family. The
object for which a Hindu marries is not to gain a companion to aid
him in enduring the evils of life, but a slave to bear children and be
subservient to his rule.

(147 )

< •

CHAP. VIIL

OF THE SECOND DEGREE OF BRAHMAN S ; THAT OF GRIHASTHA^ AND THB DUTIES

WHICH IT IMPOSES.

The second . state of a Jfeahman is that of Grihastha; a name given
to those only who are married and have children.^ A young Brahmail»
upon his marriage, ceases indeed to be a Brahmachari ; but neither is
he considered to be a true Grihastha^ while his wife, on account of
tender age, remains with her parents. The Grihasthas compose the
body of the cast, maintain its rights, and settle the disputes which
arise. It* belongs to them also to watch over the observance of the
Brahmanical rules, and to recommend the practice of them by their
precept and example.

A Grihastha Brahman should rise in the moAiingan hour and a
half before the sun. On getting up, his first thoughts should be di-
rected to Vishnu. About an hour before isun-rise, he walks out of
the village, intent upon a business of great importance to a man of this
cast, that of attending to the calls of nature. The place is chosen with
great circumspection, and decency requires of him to put off his clothes
and slippers.

The demands of nature being discharged, he washes himself with
his. left hand; which, on account of this impure use of it, is never
employed in eating, nor allowed to touch the food. The cumber of
times they must wash, and what particular! parts of the body, with the
kind of water and earth which they must use in purifying, and many
other observances which decency prevents me from enumerating, ' are
detailed in the ritual of the Brahmans. One of their devotees, caUed
Vashistaj has drawn up a digest of the rules to be followed on the
occasion, long enough to fill half a dozen pages. Amongst his ad-

u 2

248 DEGREE OF GRIHASTUA.

mire]^5 the great King of Lippa is spoken of as one of the moiBt
eealous.

In alluding to the indispensable use of water to remove the im-
purities of nature, it may be remarked that, of all the customs of the
Europeans so opposite to theirs, there is none that appears to the
Brahmans so abominable as their use of paper for that purpose. They
never speak of it among themselves but with horror, and with ex-
pressions of the utmost contempt for those who use it. Many of them
indeed are unwilling to believe that even a European could be guilty
of an act so abominable. Next in degree, they hold the other
European practice of blowing the nose, and stuffing the filth, as tl^e
Hindus say, into their pockets.

I must not omit to notice a particular ceremony, which is never
forgotten by a Brahman, on the occasion alluded to ; namely, that of
putting the - Cord over his right ear, which is supposed to have the virtue
of purifying from corporeal stains. According to the principles laid
down in their writings, the water, the Vedas, the sun, the moon, and
the air, are all contained in the ears of the Brahmans ; and it is upon
this notion, that in discharging the function alluded to, they put the
cord over the ear, as a means of purification. By the same rule, afi;er
sneezing, spitting, blowing the nose ; after sleep, or being in tears,
and in many similar cases, they seldoçi fail to touch the right ear
in order to purify themselves firpm the uncleanness which these acts
occasion.

We have before observed that exterior cleanness of the body, kept
up in the Hindu way, is a higher recommendation than any other
quality whatever. Greatness and dignity are supposed to exist wherever
it is conspicuous. This feeling has led to the study and invention ^f
a thousand minute and trifling practices, which are more systematically
pursued by the Brahmans than by the other casts : and it is upon this
superiority that they chiefly plume themselves, and think themselves
entitled to look with contempt on all that neglect it

After obeying the mandate of nature, the next care of the Grihastha
Brahman is to wash his mouth. This is no trifling matter to him.
The care with which he must select the little bit of wood with which

PEfGRE6 OF 6RIHASTBA. j^g^

he rubs his teeth, the choice of the tree he must cut it frcnn, the prayer
he must address to the deities of the woods for permission, arid many
other ceremonies prescribed for the occasion, make a part of the
education of the Brahmans, and are described at great length in their
books of ceremonies.

The scrupulous attention with which they perform this operation
every morning, with a piece of wood always fresh cut from the tree,
leads them to make a comparison very unfavourable to the Europeans,
many of whom altogether neglect the practice ; and those who most
regularly adopt it, add to the horror of the Hindu, when he sees
them rubbing their teeth and gums with brushes made of the hair of
animals, and using them again and again, after being soiled with the
pollution of the mouth and the saliva.

Happy is he who, after the cleansing of his mouth, can wash him-
self in a running stream. It is more salutary to the soul and the body
than the water he could find at home, or in a standing pool. An affiiif
of so great importance is necessarily accompanied with many rites, as
frivolous in our eyes as they are indispensable in theirs. One of the
most essential is to think at that moment of the Ganges, the Indus,
the Krishna, the Cavery, or any other of the rivers whose sacred
waters possess the virtue to efface sin ; and then to implore the gods
that the bath they use may be no less available to their souls than one
of those nobler streams would "be.

While in the water, it is necessary to keep their thoughts fixed
stedfastly upon Vishnu and Brahma; and the bathing ends by three
times taking up handfuls of water and, with their faces towards the
sun, pouring it out in libations to that luminary.

When he comes out of the water, the Grihastha Brahman puts on his
clothing ; which consists of one piece of cloth, uncut, of about a yard
in width and three yards in length. It has been already soaked in the
water, and thus made pure from all the stains it had contracted. He theù
completes his dress by rubbing his forehead with a little of the ashes
of cow-dung or with the paste made of sandal wood. He then drinks
a small quantity of the water which he has taken out of the river j and
the remainder he sprinkles around, three' tinies, in honour of all the

150 DEGREE OF GRIHASTHA.

gods, mentioning several of them by name, with the addition of the
earth, the fire, and the deities who preside over the eight cardinal
points ; and he concludes the whole by a profound reverence to the
whole circle of the gods.

It would be tedious to describe the variety of gestures and move-
ments which the Brahman exhibits in such cases. But we may select
one particular, namely the signs of the cross, which he distinctly makes
as a salutation to his head, his belly, his right and left shoulders. For,
after saluting all external things he commences with the particular sa-
lutation of himself in detail. Every member has its particular salut*
ation. Even the fingers are not forgotten, as he touches each of them
all round with his thumb. All these actions are accompanied with
prayers or the Mantras, of which we shall speak in the following
chapter.

It would now seem to be time for the Brahman to go home, after
his. leisure has been so long occupied with ceremonies ; but he has. still
a prayer to offer to the tree Raviy consecrated to Vishnu. He implores
the tree to grant him remission of his sins, and then walks round it
seven or fourteen or twenty-one times, always increasing by seven.

In going home, he always takes with him a little pitcher of water and
some flowers, both of which are necessary for the sacrifice which he is
obliged to offer soon after his return to his house. When he enters,
he must read some of the Puranas^ or hear them read. He then
makes the Homam ; after which he may attend to his private affairs.

He orders dinner about mid-day. This is provided by the women ;
though the ordinary Brahmans value themselves on their skill in cook-
ery. The great object here is absolute cleanness in the preparation.^
Many precautions are necessary for this. The clothes of the women
employed must be newly washed, their vessels fresh scoured. The
place must be neat, and free fi*om dust ; and the eyes of strangers
itiust not pervade it.

While dinner is preparing, the Brahman returns a second time to the
river. He bathes again, repeating almost all the ceremonies in the
same order as in the morning. But the anxious care is in returning
home, lest he should happen to touch any thing on the way that might

DEGREE OF GRIHASTHA- I5I

defile him ; such as by treading on a bone, on a bit of leather, or skin,
on an old rag, broken dish, or any other thing of that nature. Upon
these points, however, it must be allowed, they are not all equally scru-
pulous.

This extraordinary purity appears to him necessary, on account of
the sacrifice which he is about to ofier to the idols which he keeps in
his house. Every man has them of his own ; and on the present oc-
casion, the ofiering consists of flowers, some boiled rice, fruit, and a
small portion of the dishes provided for dinner. What is thus offered is
not lost, but distributed after dinner, and eaten as something sacred.

The Brahman being seated on the ground, his wife lays before him a
banana leaf, or some other leaves sewed together, and sprinkling them
with a few drops of water, she serves the rice upon this simple cover ;
and, close by it and on the same leaf, the different things that have been
provided ; all of which consist of the simple productions of nature, or
of cakes. The rice is seasoned with a little clarified butter, or a kind of
sauce, so highly spiced that no European palate could endure its pun-
gency.

The manner of serving up all this would appear very disgusting to
us, as it is entirely performed by the hand ; unless where the woman,
to save her fingers, is obliged to take a wooden spoon. ' But this, rarely
happens, as the Hindus generally have their food cold and their drink
hot.

The viands being before him, the Brahman before he touches theni,
sprinkles some drops of water round his plate ; but, whether to attract
the dust that might blow over his rice, or whether as a sacrificial liba-
tion to the food, I know not. But, before hé puts a morsel into his
mouth, he lays upon the ground a little of the rice and the other things
set before him ; and this is an offering to the progenitors^ and their
portion of the meal.

At length he begins to eat ; and he has generally some poor Brah-
mans with him as guests, and, more particularly, strangers belonging
to the cast, if his means permit him to entertain them. Hospitality
is greatly recommended among the Brahmans ; but they are bound to
exercise it only towards persons of their own cast. '4$

152 DEGREE OF 6RIHASTHA.

The repast is quickly finished, as in swallowing they have neither
the bones of fish nor of flesh to dread. They rise immediately, and
wash both hands, although one only has been soiled ; for the left being
reserved for other purposes, as we have already mentioned, cannot even
be einiployed in washing the right, and the lawfiil wife of the Brahman
alone can pour water over it for that purpose.

After washing his hands, he rinses his mouth twelve times. He
never uses a toothpick ; at least he never uses one twice^ thinking that
none but sudi as are inured to filth and beastliness could put up, for
another occasion, a thing that had once touched their mouths and been
polluted with slaver.

To procure a good digestion, the Brahman, after his meal, chews
some leaves of basils that had been some time before offered in sacri«
fice. This is a plant consecrated to Vishnu ; and, if he thinks of the
fiimous penitent Agastya while he is chewing it, or of the giant Eum*
bhakama, his digestion will be improved, and will keep him firee fix>m
every sort of distemper.

Before going out upon his affair£(, or to visit his fi*iends, his wife
brings him betel ; and the interval between dinner and sun-set is quite
at his disposal. He commonly employs it in going into company. But,
in mixing with the world, he is required, above all things, to attend to
the great precept ; never to covet the goods or the wife of another
man. Such a doctrine, though but ill observed, is nevertheless a proof
that the Hindus have not forgotten the principles of natural morality.

When the man has finished his repast, the wife begins hers, on the
same leaf which has served him. As a mark of his attention and kind*
ness, he is expected to leave her some firagments of his food ; and she
on the other hand, must shew no repugnance to eat his leavings : as an
illustration of which I will here quote a story which 1 have read in one
of their books.

•* An old Brahman was so corroded with a leprosy, that one day,
** whilst he was at dinner, a joint of one of his fingers fell off and
'* dropped into his plate. His wife, who sat down, in her turn, to e^t
" what he had left, contented herself with moving a little to one side
" the fi*agment of her husband's finger, and eat up the rest without be-
<' traying the least disgust. Her husband who was looking on, was so

DEGREE OF GRIHASTHA. I53

*^ highly pleased with her conduct, that he bestowed the warmest
^^ praises upon her for such a mark of her attachment, and asked what
" recompense she would desire to have for it, in this world. < Alas !*
" cried she, bathed in tears, * what recompence can I look for? Though
" young, I have no children, and have no hope of having any ; and I
" am likely soon to be placed in the wretched class of widows.'
" ' No,' replied the Brahman, in a firm tone, * thou shalt not be with-
" out a reward for so meritorious an action. I will provide for thy
" happiness.' And as he was a man beloved by the gods and full of
^^ good works, notwithstanding his leprosy, he obtained the booh of
<^ being regenerated in this world, with his wife, for as many generations
** as they themselves should desire, with the possession of every thing
^< that was good. They prospered accordingly, in this manner, as hus»
<^ band and wife, during three generations, with every temporal enjoy-
^< ment ; and their happiness was crowned with a numerous prog^iy.
'^ Satiated, at length, with the blessings of life, the good woman de-
<^ sired that she might not be renewed any more. So she died, and
^* her husband also ; and they were both translated to the Satyalokaf
" or Paradise of Brahma."

But to return to the daily duties of the Grihastha Brahman. About
half an hour before sunset, he returns a third time to the river, and
goes through nearly the same ceremonies as on. the two preceding occa-
sions of that day. He then goes home, ofiers the sacrifice of Homam,
and reads the Bhagavataj a book written in honour of Vidmn, meta-
morphosed into the person of Krishna, and other books of that nature.

The Hindus divide both day and night into four equal parts, called
Shanam or Yama; each watch consisting of three hours. The time of
going to bed is towards the close of the first watch of the night, or about
nine o'clock. The Brahman visits the temple in the house where he
resides, and must carry thither some offering ; such as oil, fi-uit, incense,
or even betel, if he is very poor. ' He walks round the temple four times,
if it be dedicated to Vishnu ; thrice if to Siva ; and only once if it be
a temple of Vighneswara or Puliyar. When he bows in adoration of this
last divinity, he holds his right ear with his left hand, and his left ear
with the right. •

( 154 )

CHAP. IX.

ÏHE TRIPLE PRATER OF THE BRAHMANS.

X HE Triple Prayer of the Brahmans, called Sanddhya^ will be best
illustrated by giving extracts frotn it» which, though they contain nothing
but absurdities, will serve to unfold more fully the nature of the Hindus
and the spirit of that idolatry to which they are devoted.

Each Veda has its Sanddhya; and every Brahman employs that which
belongs to his Veda. The following extract is taken from the Yajur^
veda. The Brahman thus commences his introduction to the prayer : -

" If he that is pure or not pure, in whatever trouble he may be,
thinks upon him who has the eyes of the Nilufavj he shall be pure
within and without"

The Nilufar, it will be observed, is the lily of the ponds, and extolled
by the Hindus as the most beautiful of flowers. There are several
species of it, having different colours. He who has the eyes of the
Nilufar, is Vishnu.

The original expressions may be thus translated, word for word, into
the language of the learned.

Apaoitra pavitrah saroavastum gatopiva

Impunis punis in quacumque necessitate repertus

Yasmaret Pankaruhikaksha Sabahiràbhyàntara

qui meminerit oculos lilii aquadci habentem hie intra, intus

Suchu
punis (est).

This stanza will probably sound harshly in the ear of a European ;
\mt I thought it not unmelodious when I heard it pronounced by a
Brahman, with strong utterance, and without omitting any aspiration.

' THE TRIFLE PRAYER. I55

He then ^ivokes the seven superior worlds^ the names of which are
Bhuj Bhuv(i9 Swarga^ Maha^ JanUy Tapa^ Satya. The first, is the
earthy and the last the world of Brahma, the most elevated of all.
They are commonly enunciated hj^ joining to each name the word
Loka^ which signifies worlds or more properly place^ and bears a dose,
resemblance to the Latin word locus.

In pronouncing those sacred words Bhuloka^ Bhuvalokaj Swargaloka^
the Brahman shuts his nostrils and every other opening, sinks appa-
rently into profound meditation, and separating each word by a short
pause fi'om the next, he fills up the interval with the sacred and myste»
rious monosyllable Om; a word pronounced with as much awe and
reverence by him as the holy name Jehovah amongst the Jews.

It evidently appears by all the circumstances under which this myste<*
rious monosyllable is used, und the manner in which it is uttered, that
it carries with it the idea of a supreme being, one and indivisible, like
the sound Om.

Both in beginning and ending the reading of any Veda, or when
listening to any sacred composition, the Brahman must always pronounce
this monosyllable silently, but distinctly, within himself.

In like manner it is always prefixed in pronouncing the words which
represent the seven superior worlds, as . if to shew that these seven
worlds are manifestations of the power signified by the word Om.

In an old Furana, we find the following passage : ^^ All the Rites or-
dained in the Vedas, the sacrifices to the fire, and all other solemn
purifications shall pass away ; but that which shall never pass away is
the word Om\ for it is the symbol of the Lord of all things."

Although the interest of the Brahmans induces them to conceal the
true meaning of this mysterious word, of which many of them indeed
are ignorant, and all pronoimce with the utmost secreCy ; I think it can
scarcely be doubted that it was invented to represent the idea of the
only true God.

The following prayer, which they always recite at their morning bath,
has the greatest power of any : " May the Sun, may. sovereign Will,
may the Gods who preside over our Will, and chiefly thou, O Moon !

X 2

156 ''^^^ TRIFLE PRATER.

pardon the sins I have this night committed, by my wilj, by my me*
mory» by my speech, by my hand», by my feet, by my belly."

To this prayer he adds the following words : ^^ Fire has Brahma fer
its Face ; Vishnu for its Head ; and Rudra for its Heart Hie origin
o{ the Earth is from on high. From smoke is engendered water, into
which it is resolved ; and from the water is produced the Earth, as a
sediment."

At the end of the prayers, the Brahman salutes the winds lodged in
various parts of his body ; of which they reckon ten, as follows :

1. Prana; a wind which originates at the anus, and pervading the
body to the crown of the head, descends from thence to the nostrils,
and is the cause of the respiration which issues out of these organs for
twelve inclies, of which one-third escapes, and the remaining two-thirds
are inspired again into the body by breathing.

2. Apana. This wind resides in the region of )the navel, and forces
out the solid and liquid excretions, as well as the accompanying wind,
through their proper channels below.

3. Vyana^ or the wind which aids digestion and escapes back-
wards.

4. Samana^ a wind which keeps all the rest in regular equipoise.

5. Naga, the wind which occasions hickup and vomiting.

6. Kurma, which causes the tremor of the eyelids.

7. KridUamj which produces phlegm, cough, and sneezing.

8. Deodtaj which occasions' stitches, shootings, and convulsions.

9. Mvkha Malamduy which excites to laughter and weeping.

10. JananjayUy which resides in the head. At death, all the other
winds dissipate, d^nd this alone remains in the corpse for three days.
On the third day it inflates the whole body, bursts the head, and escapes
tln*ough the clefl.

All these winds are severally saluted by the Brahman when he prays
during bathing ; but those that he most frequently addresses himself
to are the Apana and Vyana^ the winds which depart by the mouth
and otherwise.

In the last chapter I mentioned the salutation paid to the fingers, to
the two thumbs, the two fore-fingers, and so forth, by the Brahman,

THB TRIPLE PRAYER. |5^

trhea in the act of prayer. The hands, the heart, the stomach, the
belly, and all the other parts of the body are saluted severally in the
same manner. He then salutes the four cardinal points of heaven, by
turning towards each, and bowing submissively before it

Heaven, earth, himself, are all objects of his salutation.

He implores the elements, living or not living, to be witnesses of his
prayer, and to answer it.

Particular salutation is paid to the famous Mantram Gayatriy and to
Saraswatiy who is the wife of Brahma, but here taken only as a personi-
fied word.

Lastly, he salutes his prayer itself; and ends his devotions by saluting
the whole of the Gods and Penitents in » body.

In the prayer towards the south, they salute " the excellent Brah*
mans who have extended their career to the four seas." They reckon
but four on this occasion, although they generally admit the existence
of seven ; namely the Salt Sea, the Juice of the Sugar Cane, Arrac,
Liquid Butter, Curds, Milk, and Pure Water.

One of the most striking passages in the Sandhya consists of a sort of
Litany, comprising the twenty-six names of Vishnu, imder which he is
thus saluted: " Hail, Kesava! hail, Narayana! hail, GcmndaT &c.
But let it not be imagined that these epithets convey any honourable
distinctions ifa favour of the deity to whom they are addressed. Ke--
sava signifies one who has a fine head of hair ; Narayana^ one who makes
the waters his abode ; Govinda^ him who keeps the cows ; and so on
of the rest All those appellations have a reference to fables related
concerning Vishnu ; which fiilly demonstrates what we have already
suggested, that the Vedas, firom which all their prayers are takeo, are
of a later date than the fables and the idolatry existing among the
Hindus. »

The prayer which the Brahman addresses to the Sun contains less
absurdity than the preceding. It runs thus : " Thou art Brahma, when
thou risest ; Rudra (or Siw), in thy middle course ; Vishnu, at thy
setting : Thou art the precious stone of the air ; king of day ; observer
of our deeds j the eye of the world j the measure of timp ;. Lord of the
nine planets ; he that blotteth out the sins of those who honour him,

15g THE TRIPLE PRAY]ffî.

and expels the darkness on the return of sixty Gadis^; he who, in hi»
chariot) bounds over the mountain of the north, which stretches ninety
millions five hundred and ten Yojanasf; thee will I praise with my
utmost strength; and do thou, in thy mercy, forgive all mine iniquities.' -
This prayer is closed with twelve, twenty-four, or forty-eight obeisances

to the Sun.

The tree Rann (called Arassamara in Tamul) is thus addressed in
prayer : *^ Thou art the king of the trees. Thy root resembles Brah-
ma ; thy branches are like Siva ; thou grantest the remission of sins
and a blessed world, after death, to those who have honoured thee in
their lives by the ceremonies of the Cord and of Marriage ; to those
who have offered thee sacrifices, have gone round, about thee, have*
saluted and honoured thee. Destroy my sins, and grant me a happy
world after I die."

This prayer is followed by several turns round the tree, which is sacred
to Vishnu. Indeed Vishnu, according to the Hindu fables, is some-
times metamorphosed into this tree : and at the grand ceremonies of the
Cincture and Marriage, a branch of it, as we have seen, is always placed
under the alcove, and sacrifices are offered to it.

The following prayer is believed to be no less efficacious than the
preceding : " As the wearied man leaves the drops of sweat which issue
firom his body, at the foot of the tree where he reclines ; as the bather
in a sacred river is cleansed from his impurity ; as the holy oblation is
sanctified by the blessed herb Dharba : so may this water absolve me
from all sin."

When bathing, the Brahman pronounces, with slow utterance, the
Narayana Nama^ or salutation to Vishnu, and also the Mantras of
five letters, Nama Sivaya^ or salutation to Siva. These two prayers,
though extremely short, possess great virtue to purify both body and
soul.

The whole of these, and some other prayers, so dark and unintelli-*
gible that I could never comprehend their meaning, are always used
by the Brahman while bathing ; and a few after it is over.

* A Gadi is twenty-four minutes ; and sixty make twenty-four hours,
t A Yqanam is equal to three leagues.

THE TRIFLE FRAYER. 259

On the spot where they recite them, they spread one of the cloths
which form their dress, and to one end of it they fasten a brass pitcher
filled with water, before which they prostrate themselves. Then they
sit down and make several gesticulations. Sometimes they seem to be
musing. Some of the prayers are uttered with a loud voice, and others
in so low a tone that persons who are moved by curiosity to listen, can-
not at all understand them. Their manner of praying resembles that of
a schoolboy rapidly repeating by rote a lesson which he has learned*
In general one cannot suppose, from their outward appearance, that
they have any inward feeling of what they are employed in ; so much
do their prayers, as well as dieir other ceremonies, appear to be a mat-
ter of routine»

( 160 )

CHAP. X.

OF THE FASTS AND FESTIVALS OF THE BKAUMANS.

JL HE firahmans are bound to keep frequent fasts through the whole
year, from the time that they are invested with the Triple Cincture.
Age, infirmity, and even disease, unless in extreme cases, affords no
exemption from this duty.

The two fiist days of the new moon, the eleventh, and when it is
full ; the time of the solstices and equinoxes ; the period that precedes,
and follows their numerous feasts ; the time of an eclipse, — are all
attended with fasting. It is not so rigidly observed, however, as for-
merly, or as it is by some other nations. It consists in making, upon
those days, the usual ablutions and other practices with more exactness,
and with more scrupulous care, than on ordinary occasions, and in ab-
staining till sunset from all prepared food. But they may eat fruits, or
take milk, without prejudice to the fast This is not called a meal ; nor
are they supposed to have had dinner imless boiled rice has been served
up with its usual seasoning.

Afler those times of mortification they try to get something more
dainty than usual, — but, above all things, liquid butter ; of which they
are so fond as to drink it like water ; and, when dinner time arrives,
they replenish their stomachs so heartily as to make up sufficiently fpr
their former privations.

These fasts have for their object two purposes, which would do credit
to a religion more pure than that of the Brahmans. The first is to ob-
tain by this act of penitence the forgiveness of their sins ; and the
second to avert the malign influence of the stars.

FASTS AND FESTIVALS, ]gj

A prudential motive may also have originally tended to the estab-
lishment of their frequent fastings, as conducing to their bodily health.
The firahmans, in general, add to their other numerous vices that of
gluttony. When an opportunity occurs of satiating their appetite, they
exceed all bounds of temperance* Such occasions are frequent, on
account of the perpetual recurrence of their rites and ceremonies, all
of which are followed by a repast, at which they load their iftomachs
with an excees of nourishment. This necessaurUy brings on frequent ail-
ments, in a climate where all the bodily organs are so relaxed that ex-
cess of any kind, particularly intemperance, has the most serious effect
To obviate these consequences, and no doubt also to insinuate them-
selves into the esteem and good opinion of the public, they have
adopted those periods of abstinence which attract the observation of
the people, and afford their own stomach the necessary intervals for
recovering its tone and natural ener^r.

Besides the Brahmans, all the other casts who are entitled to wear the
Cord, and also several tribes of Sudras, who do not wear it, but who
wish to make a respectable appearance in public, observe the greater
part of the fasts. When the days of abstinence arrive, they lay asid»
all servile work. The tradesmen shut their shops ; the labourers repose»
and give rest to their cattle : the mechanics suspend their toil, and the
manufacturers quit their looms.

These occasions return so frequently that they amount to a consider^
able space of time in the course of the year, and are therefore attended
with a heavy loss. But, in a country where industry is so little en-
couraged, this loss of time is not much regarded ; and the lazy Hindu
finds more leisure than he wants for his simple and uniform round of
occupation. Perhaps the love of idleness and the want of rest may
have' contributed a great deal to the introduction of a custom which
affords so good a pretext fcH* relaxation.

The usages and customs which we have hitherto described are so op-»
posite to ours, and the greater part of them appear to us so trouble*
some and ridiculous, that we find it difficult to conceive how so great a
nation, a people so old in civilization should have adhered to them so
obstinately as to preserve them to our times without any alteration.

162 FASTS AND FESTIVALS.

The attachment is so powerful that it has never yet entered into the
imagination of any one of them to attempt a reform or change.
Several of their philosophers, particularly Vemana^ Agastya^ Paianah^
pulah TiruvaJuvetif and others, have indeed ridiculed them- in their
writings. But these authors, no doubt considered the danger of inno-
vation,* in matters of religion, as well as in government j and while they
made tMe worship and civil usages of their country the subject of their
raillery, they recommended a strict compliance with both, and religi-
ously conformed to it themselves.

It is worthy of remark that, amongst the philosophical writings
found in this country, where the authors are pleasant and satirical dn
the subject of religion and ceremonies, there is not one, as far as I
know, which has been written by a Brahman. All that I have seen
or heard of are the works of Sudras. Among these I might again men-
tion Tiruvaluven^ a Pariah, Agastya^ and Patanatu-pulai^ who have com-
posed their poems in the Tamul language, Saruvigny-Murti^ a Lingam-
ite, who has adopted the Canara tongue. One of the most celebrated
in the whole country is Vemana^ whose poems were originally written
in Telinga, and now translated into many other dialects. It is affirmed
that this philosopher lived within these one hundred and fifty years,
and was bom in the district of Kadapa^ of the cast of Reddi. His
poems, of which I have seen several extracts, are truly interesting, and
written in a style altogether philosophical.

It is also material to observe that all the philosophers who have turned
the religion and customs of the country into ridicule, are modem au-
thors, at least as far as I have been able to obtain correct information.
There may have been aqcient authors who have treated such subjects as
philosophers, but their works have perished ; and I am led to believe
that all the earlier works that tended to expose the absurd worship of
the Hindus have been destroyed by the Brahmans of late times, in
order to arrest the progress of infidelity. They shew themselves equally
earnest to discourage the circulation of the modem philosophical
writings.

There is so wide a difierence between our religion and education and
those of the Hindus, that it is not wonderful that we should at the first

PASTS AND FESTIVALS. jgg

glance feel so much dislike to their ridiculous and senseless ceremonies.
But, in their judgment, ours are infinitely worse* The European man-
ners, they think, would disgrace a barbarous people ; and they cannot
at all comprehend how a race, possessed of qualities so eminently above
other nations, should retain, in the intercourse of life, manners so low,
so coarse, and so remote from theirs.

With respect to the bondage in which we suppose they are kept by
these usages, it is not perceived by those who have been trained from
their infancy to practise them. They perceive, likewise, that their
neglect of them would bring public disgrace upon themselves ; as every
eye would be upon them, and as respect and esteem are paid only to
the zealous observance of the ceremonies ; while on the other hand a
disregard of them would bring down public and private disgrace. But
usages also grow into a habit, and the nature of a people so regularly
accustomed to the daily practice of them renders them easy and
familiar.

. At the same time I have found individuals among the Brahmans rea-
sonable enough to admit that some of their customs were inconsistent
with good sense, and that they practised them merely out of respect
to public opinion, and to live like other people. I have also been in-
formed that, in many particulars, there is no rule for their conduct, and
that the greater number of the Brahmans did not so strictly confine them-
selves to the observance of their customs, but because others practised
them, and because they feared their own neglect would be animadverted
upon.

The regular observance of all their rites depends very much upon the
degree of affluence in which they are placed. The liberality of the
princes, as has been observed, endows many of them with villages
and considerable territory, for which they make no returns. These
villages, called Agragrama are inhabited only by Brahmans. The la-
bourers who cultivate their lands reside wholly apart from them, in the
adjoining villages. Those who live on the Agragrama being thus under
the inspection of one another, are compelled, in common decency,
to conform to the customs of their cast Yet I would except such
of them as are possessed of so small a piece of ground that they are

Y 2

164

FASTS AND FESTIVALS.

obliged to cultivate it themselves, in order to procure a livelihood ; {or
their labours in the field occupy them so completely as to afford no
leisure for those tedious ceremonies, the rules of which tfiey frequently
do not understand. But they are despised on that account by their
brethren, who look upon them as d^enerate Brahmans; while they
themselves are enabled to be more faithful to their rules by the abund^
ance of leisure which they enjoy and the amusement which the cere-
monies supply to divert their lassitude ; indq[>endently of the credit
they derive from their regularity, and the public favour which it con*
ciliates.

The Brahman Gurus are obliged, and have a right from their station^
to watch over the observance of the rules prescribed to the cast.
Those who are remiss, and notoriously negligent do not always escape
with the severe reprimands or public affronts put upon them by the
Guru, when he visits the district, but in most cases have a fine im-
posed upon them proportioned to their criminality and their means.

The Purohitas are also compelled, for the sake of giving a good
example, and in order to avoid the contempt which their negligence
in this respect would draw upon them, to be very rigid with regard to
the prescribed observances ; and their interest also prompts them to
enforce the practice on others, as it is the means by which they live.

Ceremonial precision appears most conspicuously at the Samaradana,
or public feasts, which are oflen given to the Brahmans. Those who
are at the expence of the entertainment consider it as one of the most
meritorious of their deeds. They are given on various grounds ; as on
the dedication of a new temple, to expiate by so good a work the sins
of the dead, or to obtain success in time of war ; sometimes to avert
an evil constellation ; to procure rain in a great drought ; to celebrate
the birth or marriage of a great prince or other high personage, and
for other purposes of the same kind; but chiefly founded on the
superstition of the country. It is unnecessary to add that the Brahmans,
feeling the benefits they derive from such institutions, zealously urge
their adoption, and assign to them the highest rank in the order of
good works.

FASTS AND FESTIVALS. |g5

' When a Samaradana is announced, a general concourse of men and
women assemble at the place from seven or eight leagues around, with
appetites well disposed to take every advantage that the generosity of
their entertainer can yield them. Sometimes, above a thousand people
will attend; and as they must all be Brahmans, and naturiOly
keeping a strict watch upon each other, all the ceremonies of the : cait
are observed with die most scrupulous nicety, and every one studieis to
surpass the rest in the exactness with which he can perform thôm^wî

Being now seated on the ground in long rows, the >women distinct
from the men, they are prepared for dinner. Sometimes one and some^
times another sings, a Sanscrit hymn in honour of their gods, or an
obscene song ; and when it is finished, the whole company^ many* of
whom understand not a word of it, roar out in Ibud approbation,
" Hara, hara, Govinda!"

He who gives the entertainment is not permitted to sit dowti with
his guests unless he be a Brahman himself. If he belongs to any other
cast, he does not shew himself in the assembly until the feast is over ;
and then he prostrates himself before these " gods of the earth," whom
he has had the honour to entertain ; and they, in their turn give him
the asirvddam or benediction.

If, in addition to the entertainment, the benefactor makes a present
of money or cloth, he is trumpeted forth by the Brahmans who share
it, and exalted above the gods ; and this is a sufficient reward for his
profusion.

The Hindus in general, have the keenest relish for the most bare-
faced adulation and the most fulsome praises. There is a whole cast of
them, consisting entirely of flatterers, called the cast of the Bhats^
whose only employment is to sneak with base servility into the presence
of persons of distinction, reciting or chaunting some verses in their
praise, which they have got by heart, filled with the most enthusiastic
praise. The great man listens patiently to the sycophant, and has even
the vanity to imagine that he is deserving of the lofly compliments
which he hears, and rewards them with suitable liberality.

The ceremonies and other practices of the Brahmans are so numerous
and so frequently repeated, that they occupy the whole time of those

IQQ FASTS AND FESTIVALS.

who sincerely discharge them. But, as we have observed, the greater
number content themselves with performing the principal ones, or such
as in their opinion cannot be omitted without an open violation of
the laws of decorum.

There are but few among them, for example, who bathe oftener
than once in the day, and repeat the whole of the long prayers pre-
scribed ; and the same is the case with regard to the fasting and absti-r
nence from certain aliments which must never be eaten or touched*
They conform to all their customs, while they are seen, but they are
not so scrupulous when in their retirement. Hence comes the proverb
so general among them : ^^ An entire Brahman at the Agragrama; half à
^^ Brahman when seen at a distance ; and a Sudra when out of sight.'* ,

But the attachment to these customs subsists in its fullest vigour,
and they hold in sovereign contempt any one amongst them that would
shew himself indifferent in any particular.

( 167 )

CHAP. XL

OF CERTAIN PROHIBITED SORTS OP FOOD AMONGST THE BRAHHANS ; AND THEIR

SECRET AND NOCTURNAL SACRIFICES.

, X HERE are three articles of living particularly interdicted to the
Brahmans: the eating of whatever has had the principle of life; the
use of inebriating liquors, and the touching of food that has been
dressed by persons of a different cast.

The habit they acquire, from their infancy, of never eating flesh, and
the aversion instilled into them for this species of food, grows up into
such a degree of horror, that the sight of any person using it would
induce in many of them the re-action of the stomach. It is not there-
fore more di£Scult to such persons to abstain from meat, than to a Jew
or Musalman to renounce the flesh of the hog.

This abstinence prevails not only among the Brahmans, but, as we
have oflen had occasion to mention, among the various casts who are
desirous of conciliating public esteem, and who, being educated in this
particular in the same prejudices, keep up an equal aversion to all
sorts of animal food. They likewise preserve the same abhorrence of
all liquors and drugs that intoxicate, and they would take it as the highest
insult if it were proposed to them to taste any thing of tkat nature.
An instance can hardly be found, in their settlements, of any trans-
gression occurring amongst them ; and among the Brahmans it is un-
heard of.

It is not quite the same with those who reside in secluded places and
are less exposed to observation. Not long ago a fire broke out in a
village of Tanjore in the house of a Brahman, the only individual of
that cast who lived there. Ail the neighbour:s came running, and
removed the effects which they found in the house. With other things

168 PROHIBITED FOOD.

they discovered a large jar filled )vith pickled pork, and another half
full of arrack. If the accident of the fire dieted the distressed
Brahman, the discovery made in the house was scarcely less overpower-
ing, although it was long kept up as a diverting joke by the inhabitants
of the village as well as of the neighbourhood, through all parts of which
the story spread. It may be fairly surmised that this was not the only
person of his cast that was guilty of such a breach of its rules.

Transgressions of this kind are still more common in the great towns,
where it is more easy to procure the proscribed articles, and to enjoy
them without detection. I have been credibly informed that some
Btahmans in small companies, have gone very secretly to the houses
of Sudras whom they could depend on, to partake of meat and strong
liquors, which they indulged in without scruple. I also know of
instances where these same Sudras were permitted to sit down with
them, and to join in the same secret abomination. The forbidden
dishes which they used in common had been dressed by the Sudras ;
and to touch any food prepared by persons of another cast is a violation
of the rules of the Brahmans, still more abhorred than that of eating
with them in common.

An inconvenience which frequently attends these secret debauches is
that the cook-maid is not always to be relied on for keeping the secret.
I knew a young Brahman wench who was inveigled one day by the
arts and importunities of a Sudra woman, whom she frequently vi^ted,
to eat of a ragout which the Sudra woman had dressed. Some time
after, they had a quarrel, and this sad indiscretion of the poor Brahman
girl could not be expiated by all the shame and confiision with which the
detection everwhelmed her.

The secret use of intoxicating drink is still less uncommon than that
of interdicted food, because it is less difficult to conceal. Yet it
is a thing unheard of to meet a Brahman drunk in public. It may be
allowed, therefore, that some individuals amongst them occasionally in-
firinge their rules in secret, on this important point ; but it must be
added that the great majority obeys them ; and it would be an injustice
to their extreme sobriety if we hesitated to believe that the Brahmans
in general abstain firom strong liquors and other inebriating substances,

PROHIBITED FOOD. {^

keep up a perpetual &8t, and touch nathiug that beloàgs to anhnali^
but milk.

^ The punishment of ofknces of this class belongs to the Gurus.
When tihiey make their circuit, and pass through any place where an
offender is detected, he is brought befolre them, and after hearitig
the charges against him, he is heavily amerced or corporally punished,
or even excluded from the cast wheh the crime is very flagrant.
. But, of the great numbers accused, many are acqiutted on the good
repute in which they are held, and sometimes to avoid too much
publicity. Various other reasons are found to palliate the faults of
delinquents, and a Guru allows himself to be easily gained over, by
presents, so as to refuse to take cognizance of the charge, or to find
some other means of nullifying it I was an eye witness of the follow-»
ing instance of such connivance.

Being at Dharmapuriy a small town in the Camatic, while a Gîmr
Brahman was making his visitation of the district, one of the cast was
accused before him of having openly violated the rul^ respecting
food, and even of turning them publicly into ridicule. The accusation
was as well founded as it was important The chilprit was brought up
before the Guru, who had previously taken th0 evidence against him,*
and now decreed that he should be divested of thç Cord. At this awful
moment, the man, apparently unmoved under so grievous a punish^
ment, advanced to the middle of the assembly where thé Guru waisr
seated, and, after performing the sashtangam in the most respectful
way, addressed his judge nearly in the following terms : .

^^ So you, with your councQ, have decided that I am to be dive&ted
<^ of my Cord. It will be no great loss to me. Two bits oî silver will
<^ get me another. But I desire to know what your motive can be for
^ degrading me in this public manner. Is it because I have eaten meat?
<^ If that is the only reason, why does not the justice of a Guru, which
<^ ought to be impartial, extend its severity alike over all c^^ders ? why
^^ should I be the only person accused out of so great a niimber of delin*
fV quents? I look on one side, and there I see two or three of my accusers,.
^< with whom I joined not long ago in devouring a good leg of mut^om
^^ Here, on the other side, I turn my^eyes, and I sefi^fùmé more of

170 SECRET SACRIFICES;

f ^ them whom I dined with the other day, at the house of a Sudra, whertf
^^ we cut up an excellent pullet Allow me only to give in their names ;
^^ and I will also accuse many others whose consciousness has detained
^ them from appearing at this assembly* But, if you will allow xxie$
^^ I will instantly bring testimony of the facts, and justify my accus*
«ation.''

The Guru was evidently puzzled how to proceed, after a discourse
on so delicate a subject, and delivered with so. much intrepidity* But,
recovering himself, he cried out with much presence of mind : *^ Who
^* has brought this prattler hither ? Don't you see the fellow is mad ?
^ Turn him out, and let us be no longer tormented with his nonsense.'^
And in this happy way the Guru extricated himself from considerable
embarrassment.

But there are instances of more impious infractions of the laws ou
which we are treating than these, inasmuch as they have been con-
ducted in secret, and consecrated by magical rites and Occult S^rifices
in honour of the gods. It is not very long ago that some magiciansr
real or pretended, held their nocturnal orgies in secret, in a place
which I know* In these they gave themselves up to excesses of every
sort The chief mover was a Brahman. Some Sudras were his ac-
complices, who. were previously initiated in the mysteries of darkness
which were there solemnized. They eat and drank of all forbidden
things ; and they closed the ceremonies of each day by some unknown
tnagical sacrifices. The effects of such preparation were so miidi
dreaded by the neighbourhood, that they were about to require the aid
6f the government to put down such dangerous combinations. But
when the gang found they were discovered, they sculked away of their
own accord. .

But there is one of these Occult Sacrifices . in existence, and known to
many, secret and abominable as it is. I mean the sacrifice to the SaJctis ;
a word which signifies force or power. Sometimes it is the wife
of Vishnu, and sometimes the wife of Siva that the votaries pretend to
honour by this sacrifice ; but the primary object appears to be the wor-
ship of some certain invisible force represented by the emblems of
Power vaàfitcength. !lt is always celebrated with more or less secrecy»

SBCRBT SAClUFlCfiS. |Yl'

Mid id more and more wicked, in proportion as those who assist at it
are deeply initiated in its attendant mysteries of darkness.
' The least detestable of the sacrifices made to the SakHs are those in
whioh the votaries content themselves with eating and drinking of
every thing, without regard to the usage of the country ; and where
men and women huddled promiscuously together, shamelessly violate
the sacred laws of decency and modesty.

These abominable sacrifices are principally conducted by the Nama^
dharisy or those who exclusively profess the worship of Vishnu. In the
meetings which they hold, all casts are invited, without excepting ev^
the Pariahs* All distinctiofis are abolished^ and the Pariah is as wel*
come as the Brahman. >

They bring before the idol of Vishnu all sorts of meat that can be
procured, without excepting that of the cow.* They likewise provide
Abundance of arrack, the brandy of the country ; of toddy ; of opium»
and several other intoxicating drugis. The whole is presented to
Vishnu. Then he who administers, tastes each àpecies of meat and of
liquor ; after which he gives permission to the worshippers to consume
the rest Then may be seen men and women rushing forward, tewing
and devouring. One seizes a morsel, and while he gnaws it, another
snatches it out o( his hands, and thus it passes on fi'om mouth to mouth
till it disappears, while fresh morsels, in succession, are making the
same disgusting round. The meat being greedily, eaten up, the strong
liquors and the opium are sent round. All drink out of the same cup,
one draining what another leaves, in spite of their natural abhorrence of
such a practice. When the liquors are exhausted, they have nothing
left but to scramble for the leaves of betel. ' On such occasions they
regard not the pollution that must ensue when they eat and drink in a
manner 80 beastly and digusting.

When arrived at a state of drunkenness, men and women being all

indiscriminately mixed, there is no restraint on any sort of excess. A

husband sees his wife in the arms of another man, and has not the

right to recall her, or to find fault with what is going on. The womea

are there in common. All casts are confounded, and the Brahmao is

not above the Pariaht

« 2

Yl^ SECIIET SACRIHCES.

In some varieties of these mysterieis of iniquityi still more ejc^uk
than those we have aUuded to, the conspicuous ot^jects of the sacri^ce
to the Saktisy ate a large vase filled with arrack^ and a young girl, quite
Baked, and placed in the most shameful attitude. He who saqrificei
calls upon the Sakti^ who is supposed^ by this evocation, to come, and
take up her residence in those two objects. Afler the ofiering has been
made of all that was prepared for the festival, Brahmans, Sudras, Pa«
riahs, men, women, swill the arrack which was the ofiering to the Saktis,
regardless of the same glass bemg used by them aU, which m ordinary
cases would excite abhorrence. Here, it is a virtuous act to participate
in the same morsel, and to receive from eadi others mouths the half
gnawn flesh. The fanatical impulse drives them to excesses which
modesty will not permit to be named.

It cannot well be doubted that these enthusiasts endeavour by their
ipfamous sacrifices, to cover with the veil of religion the two ruling
passions, lust and the love of intoxicating liquor. . It is also certain
that the Brahmans, and particularly certam women of the cast, are the
directors of those horrible mysteries of iniquity. Fortunately the great
expence of these ceremonies prevents their frequent recurrence.

The Greeks, the Romans, and other ancient nations likewise had
their secret and abominable orgies, as well as the Hindus. Vice was
honoured amongst them, and considered essential to the adoration of
their gods and the gratification of the worshippers. It still raises our
astonishment to perceive how far the wisest and most accomplished
of all nations carried its indulgence in tolerating, and even sanctioning,
the excesses of every sort that were introduced at the feasts instituted
in honour of Bacchus. And we are compelled to blush when we think
of Greece, in her highest state of refinement, enduring the abominable
mysteries celebrated at the festivals, and in the temple of Venus.

Ancient authors have transmitted some account of the execrable
rites practised by the Persians, in honour of their God Mithra ; and we
also know the infamous ceremonies which the Egyptians adopted in
honour of Osiris.

The sacred Scripture also recounts» in part, in different books, the
irregularities and crimes committed in honour of Baal. It likewise

SECRET SACRIFICES.

173

alludes to the detestable worship of Moloch, as practised by the Moa-
bites and Ammonites ; which brought upon these races a dreadful
engeance.

It is thus that the genius and progress of idolatry have been always
the same, and that ignorance and fanaticism have in all ages led to
similar results.

( n4 )

CHAP. XII.

TH£ DIFFERENT AVOCATIONS OF THE BRAHMANS.

±F the Brahmans lived strictly according to the primitive rules of
their cast, they would keep themselves retired in the remote villages^
occupying themselves with their ceremonies, attending to the manage^
ment of their families, and particularly to the education of their chil-
dren ; and what leisure remained should be devoted to reading, study
and meditation. But a life so philosophical is not compatible with die
poverty of some of them and the ambition of the rest.

Their real practice has been to insinuate themselves, by art and ad-
dress, into the courts of the princes of the country ; to conciliate their
affection and confidence, and to gain possession of the highest offices.
Brahmans are almost always the chief ministers of those indolent kings
who are sunk in pleasure and effeminacy, and have no other employ-
ment than the search after new delights and delicacies, for the gratifica-
tion of their perverted appetites. The happiness of their people, and
the good government of their country, are objects foreign to their care.
Women, baths and perfumes occupy all their leisure, and they are sur-
rounded by those only who have learned to administer to their round
of sensuality, or who can offer any fi'esh object of pleasure or new mode
of voluptuous enjoyment. The cares of government are devolved upon
the Brahmans, to whom they delegate all their authority, and the power
of appointing to every office.

It may be easily imagined that, in this exalted sphere, they do not
forget their relations and friends, but, on the contrary, attach to their
interests such persons of their cast as may aid them, by close union. In
maintaining their authority.

AVOCATIONS OP BRAIOfANS. fi^g

• As they have more talent and address than the ordinary race of Hin^
dus, they are become necessary even to the Moorish. prmces^whpse
harsh and inflexible authority they well know how to employ in plun-*
dering the people, and in extorting their money by the most vexatious
methods, not even omitting the rack. At the same time they never
possess the same confidence and power under those sovereigns, as are
conceded to them by the Pagan princes. For they are retained by the
former in their employments, until by a thousand acts of injustice, au-^
thorised by their masters, they have accumulated a fortune. Then the;^
are arrested, divested of their authority, and stripped of their ill-gotten
wealth, by the same methods of severity and torture which they them*
selves had employed in acquiring it.

' But, as the servants of such masters must be aware that, sooner or
later, they will be called upon to disgorge, they take previous opportu*
nities of disposing of some portion of their plunder out of the reach of
the despot whom they serve.

It is unnecessary to remark that Brahmans thus exalted in rank, must
be above their proper condition. Engaged in governing a kingdom or
a province, they have neither the time nor the inclination to undergo the
tedious course of their ceremonies. But having power in their bauds,
and being the source of punishments and rewards, no person can venture
to reproach them with the dereliction of their usages as a crime. Their
rank places them out of the reach of the laws.

It is a favourite proverb with them, that ^^for the belly one plays many
^ tricks J^ And indeed it would be difficult to reckon the number of me-
thods they take to acquire a living. Some practise medicine, and, it is
said, not unsuccessfiiUy. Others go into the army ; and there are many
of these in the Mahrata cavalry. But a Brahman army will never be
very formidable. Courage and valour were never their attributes, and
the manner in which they are bred must necessarily disqualify them
from becoming good soldiers.

Some devote themselves to commerce, particularly in the province of
Gujrat ; and they are considered intelligent merchants. But this is a
profession in no estimation with the cast ; though I conceive the con^

l*fÇ AVOCATIONS OF BRAHBfANS.

jj^knpt they have fallen into is rather owing to their remissness with
f ^ord to ceremonies than to the profession itself.
. . The collectors of revenue, custom-house officers, writing-masters, vil»-
}a^ accomptants, and teachers of schools, are generally Brahmans.

They are very fit to be employed on messages, as they are never stop^
|>ed by any body* And it is on this account that many merchants, in
the countries ruled by native princes, keep them in pay in the quality of
cuiieSf or porters, because the officers of the customs are commanded to
fearch nothing which they carry.

This last sort of employment is the more lucrative to those who follow
it», that they can travel any where, almost without expence. For nearly
every stage on the highways has a lodge or house of charity, called
{Jhhaira^ erected for Brahman travellers. They alone can be received,
and the keeper of the lodge is not allowed to charge them any thing
for their entertainment, being well repaid for all that he lays out by the
large endowments and abundant contributions that support these hos^
pitable establishments.

The facility with which they can every where pass renders them ex-
celleiit spies in war time, when there is any reason to hope that they
will not take part with both sides in the contest.

Poverty, or avarice, makes them frequently descend to occupations of
a very low sort, and to professions very contemptible in their own eyes.
Some of them are dancing-masters to the loose girls that belong to the
temples of the idols. Others profess cookery ; and, of these, the rich
Brahmans always have one in their kitchens. Neither do they object
to perform this office in the service of Sudras ; though this incongruity
arises out of it, that the master, being of an inferior cast, must not touch
the dishes which his domestic uses for his cookery. Neither, . on the
Other hand, will the prejudices of the domestic permit him to withdraw
firom the table the plates which he had served up. What he has pre*
pared is pure for his master ; but what his master has touched is pollu-
tion to him.

.. In the countries imder the government of Europeans, they frequently
enter into their service, and become their JDodosAi» or upper servants )
and, when we take their prejudices into» «ccount, this last condition of

AVOCATIONS OF BRAHMANS. 177

fife must appeiir to a Brahman the lowest in which he can be placed ;
because waiting on his master forces him continually to break his own
rules^ and exposes him to defilement in itis utmost d^ee. Those who
are far removed from the neighbourhood of Europeans cannot imaginé
how people of their cast can be induced, by hire, so completely to divest
themselves of all shame, as to become the menial servants of men whom
they consider as of the lowest and most grovelling manners* Thosei
however^ who comply, justify themselves by their old maxim : ^^ for thé
" belly, one will play many tricks."

The superstition, which reigns without controul in India, is a never-
failing resource for the Brahman to supply all his wants. Any malady,
dispute, journey, or other undertaking ; any bad omen 6r unpleasant
dream, or any of a thousand other things that continually happen in
life, makes it necessary to have recourse to. them, to learn what evil or
good is to follow. In all cases where they are eonsulted, they resort to
the Hindu Almanack, of which each has a copy, where are inscribed
the good days and the evil, propitious and unpropitious moments, fér<^
tunate and midign constellations. Upon these they pretend to calcu-
late, and give their dupes an answer, more or less favourable, in propor-
tion as they are paid.

Gqing on in the mountebank way, they have a cure for every disease,
and have always an answer ready to suit every occasion. When a mat-
ter conies before them that will pay well, they give all possible import-
ance to their response by inventing some fine story that will exactly
apply to it. And, in short, wherever imposture and deception can
avail, they are never at a loss.

^^ What is a Brahman,'' I was one day asked, in a jocular Way, by one
of that cast with whom I was intimately acquainted : ^ he is an ant's
" nest of lies and impostures." It is not possible to describe them better
in so few words. All Hindus are expert in disguising the truth ; but
there is nothing in which the cast of Brahmans so much surpasses them
all as in the art of lying. It has taken so deep a root among them, that,
so far from blushing when detected in it, many of them make it their
boast.

A A

178

AVOCATIONS OF BRAHBiANS.

I had once a long conversation on the subject of religion, with twé
Brahmans, who came to visit me. They were of that sort who live off
the popular credulity. Our conference ended by their frankly con-
fessing the truth of the maxims of the Christian religion, and its ex-
cellence when compared with the absurdities of Paganism. << What
" you say," they repeated to me, over and over again, with the ap^
pearance of conviction : " what you say is true.'' " Well !'* I answered
** if what I say is true, that which you teach to your people must
" be false ; and you are no better than impostors." " That is true also,'*
they replied : " we lie, because we gain our bread by it ; and, if we
^^ preached to our people such truths as you have now inculcated so
" fully, we should have nothing to put in our bellies."

Flattery is another of their prime resources. They are by nature of
an insinuating turn ; and whatever may be their vanity and pride
on other occasions, they make no scruple to cringe in the most fawning
t¥ay before persons from whom they expect any favour. They likewise
attach themselves very eagerly to great merchants or other wealthy
persons; and all Hindus being extremely vain, the Brahmans who
thoroughly know them, skilfully take advantage of this disposition iii
persons who can afford to make it worth their while, and lavish upoil
them the utmost profusion of praise. They well know how to adapt
their flattery to the particular taste of the individual, sometimes by
composing verses in his praise, sometimes by publicly relating anec-
dotes or incidents in his life, true or false, if they are to his advantage
Sometimes they overwhelm him with blessings j tell him his fortune
and give him assurance of the enjoyment of temporal delights for
many years. Such flatteries and encomiums, ridiculous as they are,
give infinite pleasure to those who receive them, as the blazon of their
•merits ; and the flatterer whose invention has been roused by want or
some other cause, receives an ample reward.

( no )

CHAR XIIL

OF THE TOLERATION OF THE BRAHMAKS IN RELIGION, AND THEIR BIGOTRY IN

POLITICAL AFFAIRS. — -THEIR CONTEMPT OF STRANGERS.

1 HAVE elsewhere observed, that it is a principle among the Brahmans
in general, to honour all the Gods of the country, as there are none
of them in direct opposition to the rest ; and that the wars and dis^
pûtes which have occasionally arisen out of that circumstance have not
been of long duration, nor hindered them from soon returning to %
state of amity. I have also mentioned that, in consequence of this
principle, the greater number are displeased with those sectaries who
are so closely attached to the worship of any particular deity as to dish
regard all others, or at least to look on them as inferior and subordinate
to him whom they prefer.

But, are those tolerant Brahmans the less attached, on that account,
to the religion of their country and the worship of their idols ? What
I am going to say on this subject may appear paradoxical;, but it
is by no means uncommon with them to speak in the most con-*
temptuous style of the objects of their worship. They appear in the
temples without the least symptom of attention or respect for the
.divinities who reside there. Indeed, it is not a rare thing to see them
:chuse these places in preference, for their quarrels and fights. And»
in general, the prostrations they make to their gods of brass and stonç
do not appear to proceed from any pious impulse.

Their faith and their devotion are sometimes excited by human in-
terests and motives. They exhibit a great reliance on those gods
through whom they get their bread; but when they have nothing to
gain, or when they are not observed by the profane, they seem to care
jittle about them*

A A 2

X80 RELIGIOUS TOLERATION.

The legends concerning the Pagan gods are universaUy so trifling and
absurd that it is no wonder the people should sicken at the ridicule
of addressing them in worship. It is not a dangerous thing to laugh at
them Î for they wiU frequently join in the joke and carry it farther.
Many of them have songs or scraps of rhymes, abusive of the gods
whom they outwardly adore ; and these they sing or recite publicly^
and with glee, without any apprehension of moving the anger or
vengeance of the impotent beings to whom they are applied* The
Sudras, who are more simple and credulous than the Brahmans, would
net be so tolerant ; and it would he very unsafe for any one to turn into
ridicule the deity whom they profess chiefly to revere.

What mainly contributes to the contempt which the Brahmans
really feel for the gods whom their interest, education, and general
custom lead them outwardly to adore, is the clear and distinct know-
ledge they possess of a Grod eternal, the author, and first cause of all
things ; of a Being infinite, all-powerfiil, extending through all, im-
material, existing of himself, boundless in understanding, who knows
all things^ who guides all things, infinitely wise, of a purity which ex-
cludes all passion, propensity, division, or mixture. This is the idea
they entertain, and which their books declare of ParamparavastUy Para^
JBrahmOj Paramatma ; and it is the literal signification of the preceding
expressions which the Brahmans employ to explain the nature and
the attributes of the Supreme Being.

These expressions, extracted from their books, and several more
which I may likewise produce, signify the perfections of God, to which
I have alluded. But the evil is, that the principal part of those high
attributes, which only pertain to the Supreme Being, the creator and
sovereign master of all things, have been prostituted to the fabulous
deities of India, mixed with a number of others, accommodated to the
vices and passions of men ; and which therefore can have no efiect but
to degrade and vilify the nature of the true God.

But can it be credited that the Brahmans, holding opinions so lofty
of the Deity, should descend to give the appellation of God to that
innumerable multitude of living or inanimate creatures which are
worshipped by the illiterate crowd ? They must, at another sera, have

R£LIOIOnS TOLEStATION. Ig}

eonfined their adoration and homage to the supreme and only Grod#
whom they now appear to know but in speculation. Him alone the
Hindus in remote times seem to have adored.

But custom, interest, appearances, and jsdl the other feelings by which
human nature is corrupted begin to prevail. They exist no where more
powerfully than in the hearts of the Brahmans ; for they have kept
the light from their own eyes ; they have stifled the cry of their con-
iciences, by substituting for the worship of the only and true Grod the
absurd and irrational adoration of lifeless idols. ^^ Professing them«-
^ selves to be wise they become fools." Gk)d, whose image they have
disfigured by their abominations, has justly visited them with that severe
judgment which the holy Apostle Paul has informed us fell upon cer-
tain philosophers of his time, who shunned the light, as the modern
Brahmans do, and has delivered them up in the same manner, ^^ giving
^ them over to a reprobate mind." These are the words of the Apostle
in the first chapter of the Epistle to* the Romans ; the whole of whidi,
from the eighteenth verse, may be perused as an eloquent description
of a community sunk into an abandoned state of manners, to be com-
pared only with the worst part of society in India.

The philosophers of India, however, do not stand alone in the
guilt of suppressing that truth which is of all others the most import-
ant to man. That great truth, the existence and the unity of the true
God, was not unknown at Athens : but the wisest of her philosophers,
Socrates, who had almost as clear conceptions of the nature of the
Godhead as we have derived from revelation, never durst reveal it to
the people ; and although he well understood the absurdities of Pagan-
ism, he assumed for his maxim, that it was proper to conform to the
religion of one's country^

Plato, his disciple, who beheld Greece and all the world abused with
a silly and scandalous worship, and who knew the true God as well as
his master, contents himself with saying that there are some truths
which must not be divulged to the multitude. "'

'At the time when those two philosophers flourished, the whole world
was overspread with the same' error ; and truth durst not appear. The
followers of the true Gk>d were shut up iii a narrow comer of the earth».

{g2 BELiGions toleration:

find his worship was publicly exercised only in the temple of Jem*^
salem»

But there is this vast difference between the ancient philosophers and
the modem sages of India, that the fomxer were too few in number
to influence the public mind, and had not sufficient support to combat
successfully the errors into which the multitude had fallen ; whereas thç
Brahmans, from their numbers and the high consideration in which they
are held, if they seriously desired it, and if their interest and passions
did not run the other way, might throw down by a single effort, the
whole edifice of idolatry in India, and substitute without difficulty, in
its room, the knowledge and worship of the true God ; of wUon» they

■

themselve still preserves the loftiest conceptions.

But, to return to the religious toleration of the Brahmans, we add^
that they carry it much beyond the universal adoration of all the
deities of their own country. It is a principle established and taught
in their books, and maintained by themselves in discourse, that, in the
world, there must be an endless diversity of laws and of worship (ex-»
pressed by their word anantaveda^ which signifies an infinity of reli-*'
gions) not one of which they can condemn.

They would respect Muhammadanism, such as it is professed in India,
with all the trappings and superstitious additions of ceremonies with
which the Moorish Hindus have overloaded it : but the weight of the
yoke which its propagators have imposed on their necks, with an utter
disregard of their laws, has brought both them and their religion into
abhorrence.

The Christian religion, in itself, is not disliked by them. They ad-
mire its pure morality ; but they perceive also that it would not be
easy for a plain Hindu to conform to some of its precepts. The Chris-
tian religion condemns and abjures the greater part of their usages, on
account of the superstition with which they are tainted ; and thence^
in some districts particularly, it becomes quite insupportable. The
Hindus who embrace - it appear no longer to be branches of the samç
national &mily with themselves, having renounced the usages which
the adherents of the ancient faith consider as the only sacred bond
which can unite them indissolubly together.

POLITICAL 3IGOTRY* j[3g

' I have oflen thought^ however, that interest was a good deal coh«
«emed in their hatred of the Christians, as they must perceive that, if
that religion gained ground, it must be to their prejudice ; and that, if
it ultimately triumphed, they would be left destitute of the means of
subsistence.

Upon the whole, we must conclude that the tolerant spirit of thâ
Brahmans, in regard to religion, arises from indifference about it;
most of them holding their own worship in contempt

They have been thought intolerant in their religious practices, be^
cause they do not open the gates of their temples to Europeans, but
refuse to admit to their ceremonies such of them as are attracted by
curiosity to see them. But the reserve which the Hindus maintain in
such cases by no means proceeds from an intolerant feeling with regard
to religion, but wholly from a dislike of the unprepared condition and
the uncleanness in which, according to their prejudices, the Europeans
continually live. If these strangers would cease from taking Pariahs
into their domestic service ; if they would abstain from eating the flesh
of cattle^ give up their offensive dress, with their boots, gloves and
whatever is made of animal skin, and accommodate themselves, in how-»
ever small a degree, to the other leading usages of the country, they
Would experience from the Hindu the most perfect and unbounded
toleration.

Having sometimes in my travels come up to a temple where a mul-%
litude of the people were assembled for the exercise of their worship^
I have stopped for a while to look on ; and the Brahmans, who direct
•the ceremonies, have come out, and, upon learning who I was, and my
nianner of living, have invited me to go in and join them in the tem*
pie ; an honour for which I always thanked them unfeignedly, as became
la person of my profession to do.

But if the Brahmans manifest that it is agreeable to their principles
4o shew indulgence in whatever imrmediately concerns their religion,
Ûie case is very much altered in regard to their Civil Institutions. In
this particular they are the most intolerant of men. Nothing appears
to them well ordered but their own customs. In the world there ,arç
no really civilized men but themselves ; and the habits and manners

2g4 POLITICAL BIGOTRY;

of the strangers, who are now become their masters, and live in the
midst of them, they consider to be worthy only of a barbarous
people.

This pride and vain prejudice in favour of their customs and pnu>
tices are so deeply rooted in their nature, that all the mighty revolu-
tions to which they have been exposed have not effected the slightest
visible alteration in their manner of living. Several times have they
been subdued by conquerors, who have shewn themselves superior to
them in courage and bravery ; but they have always regarded their van-
quishers as infinitely beneath them in civilization, education and ac*
complishments.

After being subdued by the Moors, in modern times^ that fierce
people, who could not tolerate any religion but their own among a
race whom they had conquered, used every efifort to impose their
religious as well as civil institutions on the Hindus, who had all sub-
mitted without resistance to the stem invaders. But all endeavours
were in vain. The Hindus, who had surrendered to them all they had
valuable on earth, who saw their wives and their children carried away^
and made no resistance ; who beheld the fierce plunderers ravage their
whole land with blood and fire, and yet rested quiet ; shewed a spirit
never to be subdued, when any attempt was made to change their cus-
toms and to substitute those of a foreign people. Even the long resi-
dence of their conquerors among them, during which every art of
seduction has been employed, without intermission, to entice their new
subjects to comply with their modes of life, has produced no visible
alteration in the old customs of the country. The lure of wealth and
honours held out by the Moorish invader to all who would conform to
his religion and rules, and the harsh treatment and contempt reserved
for those who persevered in their own worship and forms ; were all too
feeble to move the Hindus, particularly the Brahmans ; who have pre-
ferred a state of vassalage, with the use of their own rites, to all the
dignities and honours which would have been the reward of their com-
pliance. After a long struggle, the haughty conqueror has been ob-
liged to yield, and even, in some measure, to adopt the religious and
civil customs of the vanquished people.

K>LinCAL BIGOTRT. Ig5

It must also be admitted that the harsh and tjnramiical system em*-
ployed by thé Muhammadan invaders in the government of a race of
men so gentle, so submissive^ so pacific as those they found in India»
was but ill adapted to conciliate affection» or to abate the prejudices
which» in all times» they have entertained against strangers and their
customs.

: The period of their emancipation from the iron yoke imposed upon
them by those tyrants» and which they have endured for several ages
without daring to complain» cannot now be far off But the poor
Hindu» though apparently insensible to the evils of life» cannot easily
forget the numberless miseries which he has suffered for several
hundreds of years from those cruel oppressors ; who» afler subjugating
an unresisting and obedient race» ' that never ventured to dispute
their dominion» appear to have studied as a science the art of inflicting
calamity and woe.

The Moors in India are disliked by the Brahmans» both on account
of the tyranny, which they exercise over them» without aûy respect to
the imaginary lords of the earthy and also for the small regard they shew
to their ceremonies and customs*- in general. But they also find
amongst these strangers» persons who equal or perhaps surpass them*-
selves in haughtiness» in pride» and vain glory» and in most of the
vices which are familiar to either race : so that the one is never likely
to coalesce with the other.

There is this difference, however» that the Moor on his part main*»
tains but an empty pride» which has no other foundation than the office
which he holds» ox the dignity with which he is invested ; whereas thç
Brahman has the consciousness of his own excellence» which never
forsakes him» but enables him to support his rank under idl circum^
stances of life. Rich or poor» in prosperous or adverse fortune» he
regulates himself continually by the sentiment which tells him» that
he is the noblest and the most perfect of all created beings» that all
other men are beneath him» and that there is nothing on earth so well'
ordered and so becoming as his .usages and customs.

•He is likewise well convinced that there is pothing human in which
he does not surpasa the strangers who live in his country y particulnrlj

B B

Igç FOLmCAL BIGOTRY.

in whatever relates to sdenoe. For, a» to the axb, he consideili them
as greatly beneath his dignity, and suited only to the degraded cas^ .
who are not permitted to soar into the sublime r^ons of knowledge,
accessible only to the Brahmans.

The profomid ignorance in which the Moors in India live, being
incapable even of dipping into the almanack, for which they are com-
pelled to have recourse to the Brahmans, tends very much to strengthen
the good opinion which the latter entertain of themselves ; whidi no
beings in the world carry so far.' But, if they were impartial, they
would descend a good deal from this self-conceit, when they perceive
how far the Europeanis, with whom they now live in familiarity,
leave them behind in all the branches of knowledge which they cul-
tivate in common.

Nevertheless, a Brahman will always refuse to own that any
European can .be as wise as he is. He holds in sovereign contempt all
the sciences, arts, and new discoveries which such a teacher could
communicate, in the injudicious conceit that any thing not invented
by himself can be neither good nor useful. And he is persuaded
that every thing human that either can or ought to be known, is
already contained in his books, while on the other hand, whatever he
himself has not found out is suspicious, and ought to be rejected with*
out farther examination.

Such is the education of a Brahman, and such the principles in
which he is universally and invariably trained up ; and it would be
labour lost to attempt to correct his prejudices or to alter his no^
tions on such affairs.

One frequently sees amongst them some individuals whom interest
or other motives have induced to acquire the Eiu^opean tongues, and
who understand them very well. But they are rarely seen with a
European book of science in their hands; and it would be somewhat
difficult to Convince them that any such work contained an atom of
which they are ignorant, or that is not already to be found in books of
their own.

At the same time, although the Brahmans will not allow that the
Europeans equal them in the high departments of knowledge, they

POLirrCAL BIGOTRY. ||^

confess tili^ supetribitity in some other respects^* Jïk partieular, they
We to task of the humanity with which they carry on war^ of thé
moderation ^d impartiality with wluch they govern ^ the people widear
their controol; and, if it were possible for thb singular cast to become
&miliar with any foreigners, it would certainly be with the Europeans;
whose good qualities of benevolence and humanity they acknowledge.
But among thfi bright virtues which adom them, they descry the
darkest taints.> They see them addicted to habita 90 gross and abomi**
nable according to their notions» so completely opposite to their own
education and brea^^^ ^ well as to their institutions, that they quickly
forget the favourable impressions whidi their beneficence» moderation»
and spirit of equity had left, and view them in no other light than as
a part of the barbarous nations.

The Europeans would have rapidly advanced in the esteem tod
afiection of the people of India, had they chosen at their first apr
pearance^ if not to accommodate themselves entirdy to the customs
and prejudices of the country, at least to have done so in the leading
points. If they had yielded somewhat in those observances, the breach
of which is most ofiensive, and is indeed regarded by all casts of
Hindus as the most enormous widcedness» or as outrageous rudeness,
it would have cost them but little. Perhaps the adoption of some of thé
customs which they found established in the country might have beeh
beneficial to their health, and at all events would have procured them
an advantage, which they have for ever lost, in the love and confidence
of those nations.

I cannot see, for my part, what the Europeans would have lost by
abstaining, in tenderness to the prejudices of the people, from the
flesh of the cow; which» in hot climate^ is but an insipid and uur
wholesoine food. . Neither do I perceive that it would have been a great
sacrifice for them in chusing their servants» to have avoided the in^-
famous and detested sect of the Pariahs.

Let us but candidly consider how a Brahman, or a Hindu of any
other cast, can attach himself with afiection to an European ; an in-
dividual who, in his whole' conduct, affix)nts their most sacred and in-
violable institutions.

B B 2

j^ POLITICAL BIGOTRY.

How can a Brahman repress the horror and the hideous disgust whicb
must arise within him, when he sees Europeans feeding upon the flerii
of the cow< he, to whom the murder of one such animal is more appal»
ling than manslaughter, and the use of its flesh more horrible than to
gorge on a human carcase ?

In what estimation can he hold men who admit Pariahs into their
domestic service, or keep women of that vile tribe, as servants, or in a
more criminal capacity : he, who feels a stain, and must immediately
wash, if even the shadow of such a being passes athwart him ?

What respect can he have for men who debauch themselves in public»
who appear to consider the detestable act of drunkenness as a gallant
feat : he^ who has been taught to view it as the most infamous of all
vices, and the most debasing to human nature ; he, who, if he once
offended in that way, would be consigned to the most d^rading
punishment ?

. What idea can he form of Europeans, when he sees them bring their
jfemales to mix in their intemperance, and beholds women shamelessly
laugh, play, and toy with the men, and even join them, without blush^
Ing, in the dance : he, whose wife dares not sit dowii in his presence»
and who has never known nor imagined that persons of that sex, with
the exception of the common girls and prostitutes, could take it in their
heads to amble and caper ?

Another peculiarity which is nearly as shocking to the Hindus, is
that of the European dress. It is so different from theirs, and in other
respects, so cumbersome and incommodious in a warm climate, that it
is not surprizing they should think it fantastical and ridiculous.

But what disgusts them most of all is the boots and gloves. In their
imaginations, leather and all kinds of skins of animals are of so impure
a nature that they must wash after touching them ; and they do not un-
^ierstand how Europeans can handle, and even put on, without horror,
the ofials of a beast

( 189 )

CHAP. XIV.

OF THE MANNERS OF THE BRAHMANS.

T'
O complete our knowledge of the character of the Brahmans, it will

be necessary to draw 9n outline of their manners. Those who are most
intimately acquainted with this cast of people, I believe, will generally
agree that an exact and faithful portrait of them will not be much to
their advantage. I do not intend to enter very minutely into the sub-
ject of this chapter ; and the greater part of what I have to say will
apply, not to the Brahmans only, but to Hindus of all other casts. .

Amongst the vices peculiar to them, we may place in the first rank
their extreme suspicion and duplicity. These feelings appear very pro-
minent wherever their interest is in any degree committed. But, iii
general, the reserve of the Hindus, in all the circumstances of their
lives, makes it very difficult to discover what is at the bottom of the
heart ; and the skill which they possess in counterfeiting what best suits
their interest takes away all confidence in their most solemn pro*
testations.

I do not suppose, however, that thesç vices are innate, or that they
spring from any natural bias to be rogues and dissemblers. I rather
suppose they proceed from the influence of the tyrannical governments
under which they have existed for so many ages. Till of late, they
have been habituated to live under the rule of a great number of petty
and subordinate tyrants, whose sole object appeared to be to emulate
each other in the art of trampling on the people whom they governed ;
which end they could most easily attain by the constant use of shifls
and evasions. The feeble and timid Hindu had no other means of
warding ofi* so much injustice and vexation, but by opposing trick to

190 MANNERS, OF THE BRAHMANS.

trick, and practising in his turn the duplicity and dissimulation which
were employed against him. Thus he grows expert in the practice of
those arts. They are his defensive armour against despotism, and they
are so often called into use that they have become his natural pro-
tection.

One of the principal ties that bind human creatures together, the
reverence we feel for those from whom we derive our existence, is al-
most wholly wanting among them. They fear their father, while they
are young, out of dr*ead of being beaten ; but from their tenderest years
they use bad language to the mother, and strike her even, without any
apprehension. When the children are grown up, the father himself is
no longer respected, and is generally reduced to an absolute submission
to the win of his son, whq becomes master of him and his^house^ It
is very uncommon, i» any cast whatever^ to see &thers preserving their
authority to the dose of their lives, when their children are mature*
The young man always assumes the authority, and commarals those,
who are the authors of his being.

At the same time, when these have acquired absolute authority in the
house,^ they are not déficient in attention to their fathers, mothers, and
relations ; and, when grown old and infirm, they do not suffer them to
be in want of any thing.

No where in the world do parents shew more tenderness and attach-
ment towards their of^pring than those of India. But this fondness
shews itself only in the most absolute indulgence of them, in every
thing, whether good or bad.. They have not sufficient courage and re-
solution to correct their faults, nor to repress the growing vices. The
experience of how little gratitude a foolish father receives from his
spoiled children, has no effect upon them, and makes them neither more
severe nor nlore vigilant.

As no pains are taken to curb the passions of these indocile infants,
their minds are left exposed to the first impressions that assail them,
which are always of an evil tendency. From their earliest years, they
are accustomed to scenes of impropriety, which, at such an age might
be supposed incapable of imprinting any image on their fancies : but
it is nothing uBpommon to see children of five or six years old already

BIANNEBS OF THE BRAHMAN& 5}^

become femili» with discourse and actions wl^ich woudd make modesty
turn aside. The instinct of nature is prematurely awaketted by th^
6tate of bare, nakedness in which th^y are kept for th^ir first seven or
^ht years, and excited by the loose conversation which they frequently
hear» the impure songs and rhymes which they are taught a9 soon as
they can speak, and the lewd tales which they constantly listen to, and
«re encouraged to repeat Snah ar^ the sources from whence their
.young hearts imbibe tbeir first aliment,, and such thç earliest lessons
which they leam!

It is superfluous to add that, as they grow up, mcontinence and its
attendant vices increase with them. Indeed the greater part :of their
institutions, religious and civil, appear to be contrived for thé purpose
of nourishing and stimidating that passion to which nature of itself is so
exceedingly prone. - The stories of the dissolute life of their gods ; the
«(olemn festivals so oflen celebrated, from which decency and modesty
are wholly excluded; the abominable allusions which many of their
daily practices alwajrs recal ; their public and private monuments, on
which nothing is ever represented but the most wanton obscenities ;
their religious rites^ in which prostitutes act the principal parts: all
these causes, and others that might be named, necessarily introduce
among the Hindus the utmost dissoluteness of manners.

It is probably with the view of guarding in some measure against
this dreadful depravity, that they hasten to marry their children so soon.
But marriage itself is but a feeble restraint in .many dases on the evil
consequences of so profligate an education. Nothing is more usual
than for a married man to keep one ocmcubine, or sevbral, out of his
house, when he is able to .afford die expence. This^occurs most fre-
quently in the towns, from the facility they afford of concealing it from
the lawful wife, so as to avoid the family discord and quarrels which
would so naturally arise if it were known. Yet, even in the most re-
tired situations, the jealous vigilance of the wife seldom restrains the
libertinism of her husband. Seeing the small effect produced by her
prayers and threatii, she probably forms the resolution to leave him
and betake herself to her relations^ She is soon recalled by ptotiiises
of amendment and fidelity in future. These are soon broken àxÉd she

l^ manKerst of the brahmans;

is at last reduced to the necessity of seeing and hearing ^her injuries,
and of enduring them. •

Domestic discord cannot fail to be prevalent in a country where the
youths are trained so early to licentiousness, where the number of young
widows is so great, and where abortion i^ so common from most of
them knowing the means of procuring it, and from believing it to be a
smaller evil to cause the deatl^ of an unborn in&nt than to put to
hazard the reputation of a frail matron. But many of these misled
women whose ininds do not shrink from the crime of infanticide, and
who use ingredients to destroy the innocent victim, become the sacri-
fice to their wickedness ; for it frequently happens that the deadly drug
extinguishes the life of the mother after that of the child.

When the remedy does not take its intended efiect, and when there
is no way of concealing the consequences of their frailty, the Brahman
women, to prevent as far as they can the shame which their condition
would bring upon their family, give out that they are about to make a
pilgrimage to Benares, a solemn undertaking as common in the Brah-*
man cast for women as men to engage in. With the assistance of some
confidential person whom they have admitted into the secret, they
b^n their journey, pretending to take the way to Kan^ but go no far^
ther than some neighbouring place, to the house of some relation or
fiiend, wjiere they remain in privacy till they are disencumbered of
their load. This being arranged, and the child disposed of in a private
way, they quietly return to their families.

Besides the sources of corruption already noticed, which are common
to all the Hindus, there is one of a peculiar kind, known in several dis-
tricts, though chiefly among the Brahmans, and some other classes of
Hindus the most distinguished for licentious habits. Many of them
possess a detestable book which is known under the name of Kokwa
Sastruj and Padinetu Kamam^ in which the grossest lewdness and most
infamous obscenities are taught, in regular method, and upon principle.
I know not whether this abominable work exists in the various countries
of India and whether it be written in their several idioms ; but I
know it is extant in writing, in the Tamtdj and that it is met with in
the districts where that dialect is used*

MANNERS OF tHK BRAHBIANS. I93

This abominable book^ it is said» describes vaj^ious moded of sexual
congress, and teaches many opprobrious modes of lascivious enjo3rment|
independent of that intercourse^ which decency does not permit to be
named* It pretends also to give indubitable matks to determine
whether the virgin ^ne has been unloosed : and proceeds to other in*
^iries which can be perused only by the most dissolute. Still some
trace of modesty seems to pervade the geneml depravity of manners,
£>r those who possess the book dare not publicly exhibit it, nor shew it
at home but to persons worthy of being admitted to such disgraceful
confidence.

The mere connection with unmarried women is not considered as an
offence by the Brahmans ; and those men who attach the idea of sin to
the violation of the most trifling ceremony, see none in the greatest
excesses of profligacy, such as the institution, contrived for their grati*
flcation, of the dancing girls, or prostitutes, attached to the idolatrous
rites in ' the different temples. They are oft;en heard repeating a
scandalous line, which attributes merit to such vague connections.

It greatly tends tokeep up domesticmisrule amongst them, that adultery,
on the woman's side, although infamous and reprobated, is not so severely
punished heife as in several of the other tribes. They pay no great at-
tention to it when kept private, and even.if it becomes public, ;as every
Brahman must have a woman, and as he cannot possibly find another
in the room of her who has dishonoured his bed, in any other capsr
city than as a concubine, the shortest way for him is to retain his wife,
with all her failings, and to correct them in the best manner he can. '

The disgrace, infamy, and shame which are the consequences' of an
erring wife, and which even extend to all her family, serve as a restraint
upon many, and retain them in the path of ditty, or put them upon
finding the best means of cloaking their firailty, so that it majr escape
the eyes of the public. Those who are not so fortunate as to escape
publicity, must expiate their errors by submitting to be received in
public with reproach and insult; and, in a country where no prosecu-
tions take place oh account of verbal abuse, when th^ have any dis«
pute with other women, their slip is most certainly the first thingtto be
brought up. The confiision into which they are thus publicly thrown

c c

j[94 HANKERS OF THE BRAHMANS.

Î8 a good lesson to others to be more careful in preserving their honour,
or at least in saving appearances.

But it will appear almost incredible that, notwithstanding this state
pf corruption and the relaxation of manners so widely difiused over all
India, external propriety of behaviour is much better maintained
amongst them than amongst ourselves. The indecent prattle and ful-
some compliments which our fops are so vain of, and study as a science,
are here entirely unknown. The women, shameless and dissolute as
they are in other respects, would not join in such impertinent gossip-
ping in public. A man who should talk in a familiar way with his
wife would be thought an unpolished ridiculous person. One is nevçr
asked how his wife does. Such an inquiry would be considered im-
pertinent, and be felt by the husband as* an insult It is still more
requi;3ite that when one visits his friends he should never shew any de-
sire to see the wife, or even speak to her if they met, unless they be
near relations.

In no country is there a just medium in this respect. Our error
is an excess of familiarity. The fault of the Hindus is too much re-
serve.

• The austere behaviour of the Hindus towards the fair sex arises from
the opinion, in which they have been nurtured, that there can be no-
thing disinterested or innocent in the intercourse between a man and a
woman ; and, however Platonic the attachment might be between two
persons of different sex, it would be infallibly set down to sensual love.
They have not therefore been yet able to familiarize themselves with
the European manners in this particular. The politeness, attention,
and gallantry which the Europeans practise towards the ladies, although
oflen proceeding entirely from esteem and respect, are invariably
ascribed by the Hindus, to a different motive ; and they cannot see a
European conducting a lady imder his arm but they conclude she must
be his mistress.

But this habit of reserve which thçy keep up towards the women of
their own nation, together with the other reasons alluded to, and the
severity with which they punish those who are guilty or are strongly
suspected of such conduct, have the effect to render the violation of

MANNERS OF THE BRAUMANS. J^^

honour much more rare, than it would otherwise necessarily be, in a

country where the men are, so early in life, accustomed to licentious-^

ness, and where there are so many young widows who have it not in
their power U> re-marry.

To all thetie motives for continency, we ought to add that the Hindu
women are naturally chaste. In this respect they are undoubtedly of a
very different character from what is attributed to them by some authors,
who have but ifnperfectly observed their dispositions, and who havej
no doubt, been deceived by the dissoluteness of sonlle females of the
nation, who connect themselves with Europeans, or of the still greater
number who follow the armies. From these particular instances, they
have ventured to brand them in general with the odious imputation of
unchastity. I bçlieve their opinion to be erroneous, and I am confident
that any person who shall inquire closely, and with impartiality, into
their habitual conduct, as I have done, will join with me in revering
their virtue.

I am unable to decide whether their continence proceeds firom the
education they receive, the spirit of reserve which is instilled into them
from their early years, the seclusion from the males, which their cus^
toms impose invariably, or from the influence of climate and food*
But, whatever may be the true cause, certain it is that they have not
that natural propensity to transgress the rules of honour which the sex
is remarked for in some other countries. But if this inclination actually
exists amongst them, it is at least a fire concealed under ashes, which^
if it be not roused, does not burst into a flame.

Having said so much of the .methods taken by the Brahmàns to en-
courage and stimulate that passion which of itself exercises a power
sufficiently absolute over the human heart, I will say a few words on
their mode of resenting any injury or afiront which is offered to them.
No creature whatever retains longer than they do the spirit of rancour^
When they have nourished a feeling of hatred against any one, it oflen
passes from generation to generation, and becomes hereditary in &mi*
lies. They counterfeit a reconciliation, when their interest requires it}
but it is never sincere ; and it is nothing uncommon to see a man taking

c c 2

IQQ MANNERS OF THE BRAHMANS.

vengeance for an injury offered, many years before, to his father or

grandfather.

In their view of obtaining satisfaction, a duel would be sheer folly^

Assassinations, and even fisticuffs, beyond a gentle blow or two, are at-
most unknown among them. Their disposition, naturally timid and
cowardly, does not admit of methods of revenge so dangerous and
bloody. In cases of deep offence, the- Brahman prefers to avenge him-
self by the means of some evil-engendering Mantram^ or by having
recourse to some famous magician, who, by his spells and enchantment,
may strike his enemieis with terror, or infect them with some incur-
able disease.

Their manner of shewing their wrath is, by scolding stoutly and ban-
dying the grossest and most infamous abuse ; in which accomplish-
ment the Brahmans are not surpassed by any other cast. They will
try also to ruin their adversary by calumnies and other secret attacks ;
in which, sooner or later, they will succeed.

Homicide and suicide, though held in particular horror by the whole
of the Hindus, and though less frequent among them than in many
other nations, are however not unknown. It is the women chiefly who
resort to self-slaughter, in moments of despair, almost always brought
on* by the harsh and tyrannical manner in which they are treated.
They put an end to their life by hanging themselves, or plunging into a
pond or river ; and the general cause of this desperate end is, as we
have just mentioned, family discord.

Besides that great connecting link of human society, filial reverence,
a virtue so little appreciated among the Hindus, the Brahmans are like-
wise destitute of the other high moral sentiments which infuse the spirit
of mutual agreement and union into the social body, moulding it into a
large commimity of brothers, aiding one another in every difficulty,
and mutually contributing whatever is in their power to each others
welfare.

The Brahman lives but for himself. Bred in the belief that the whole
world is his debtor, and that he himsdif is called upon for no return, he
conducts himself in every circumstance of his life with the most abso-
lute selfishness. The feelings of commiseration and pity, as far as

MANNERS OF THE BBAHMANS. iffj

respects the sufferings of others, never enter into his heart He will
see an unhappy being perish on the road, or even at his own gate, if be*
longing to another cast ; and will not stir to help him to a drop of
water, though it were to save his life.

He has been taught from his infancy to regard all other classes of
men with the utmost contempt, as beings created for the purpose of
serving him, and supplying all his wants ; without any reciprocal duty
on his part, to shew his gratitude, or make any other return.

Such are the principles on which the education of the Brahmans is
invariably and universally founded. And, after such a description, shaU
we be at all .surprized at their haughtiness, their pride and self-love, or
at their contempt of all other men, of whom they never speak amongst
themselves without the addition of some ignominious epithet or expres-
sion of scorn ?

( 1»8 )

CHAR XV.

OF THE EXTERIOR QUALITIES OF THE BRAHMANS AND OTHER HINDUS ; • THEIR
BODILY AND MENTAL WEAKNESS ; OF THEIR LANGUAGE, THEIR DRË&S, AND
THEIR HOUSES.

A HAT nothing may be wanting to our description of the Brahmans^
I will add a few words concerning their gait^ physiognomy 9 and other
characteristical peculiarities, the greater part of which is applicable in
degree to the other casts.

There are among them, as in all other nations in the world, men of
every degree of stature and figure. But one hardly ever sees in India
certain bodily deformities which are cx)mmon in Europe. The hump-
back, for example, is rarely to be seen. But to balance this deficiency,
there is a far greater proportion of blind than in Europe. The extreme
heat of the climate, the usual practice of the poor to go with their heads
and bodies almost bare, under the strongest influence of the sun, may
unquestionably contribute to impair the organs of sight. To guard
against this evil the people have a custom of rubbhig the head with an
ointment composed of several ingredients.

The colour of the Hindus is tawny, lighter or darker according to the
provinces which they inhabit. That of the casts who are constantly
employed in the labours of agriculture, in the southern districts of the
peninsula, is nearly as dark as that of the Cafires. The Brahmans, and
people whose profession admits of their working in the shade, such as
painters and many other artisans, are of a lighter hue. A dark-coloured
Brahman and a whitish Pariah are looked upon as odd occurrences ;
which has given birth to a proverb common in many parts of India,
** Never trust to a black Brahman or a white Pariah." The tint of the
Brahman approaches to the colour of copper, or perhaps more nearly
to that of a bright infiision of coffee. I have seen people in the southern

EXTERIOR QUALITIES, 199

parts of France as dusky as the greater number of Brahman s, and
perhaps more so. Their women, who are still more sedentary and less
exposed to the rays of the sun, are still lighter in their complexion than
the males.

There are some wild hordes on the hills and in the thick forests on
the coast of Malabar, who are much less deeply tinged than any of the
casts that have been mentioned. In the woods of the Coorga country
there is one of these communities, called Malay Koodieru who do not
yield, in point of complexion, to the Spanish or Portuguese. I can
divine no other reason why those savages who inhabit the mountains
should be of a whiter hue, but that they are continually under the
shelter of trees which protect their complexion.

But, in all casts, without exception, the Hindus have the sole of
the foot and the palm of the hand much whiter than the rest of the
body.

It is no uncommon thing to meet with a class of individuals
amongst them who are bom with a skin much whiter even than that of
Europeans. But it is easy to perceive that it is not a natural colour,
because their hair is altogether as white as their skin ; and, in general,
their whole ext«ior appearance is unnatural. They have this dis-
tinguishing peculiarity, that they cannot endure the light of the broad
day. While the sun is up, they cannot look steadily at any object ;
and, during all that time, they contract their eye lids so as apparently
to exclude vision. But in return, they are gifted with the faculty of
seeing almost every object in the dark.

There can be no doubi that this is the same variety of the human
species which the celebrated naturalist Bufibn, in his Natural History,
describes under the name of Blafards ; who, according to that author,
are found in great numbers in the Isthmus of Darien, in America.
He also remarks that this same species is met with in the various parts
of the world which are situated under the same latitude as the Isthinus,
and in a similar climate. The description which he gives corresponds
exactly with the individuals here alluded to,' whom the Europeans iiji
India call Chakrelas.

•200 EXTERIOR QUALITIBS.

But I do not think it foreign to my subject to digress â little, in
atdesrjx} clear up a doubt which that intelligent writer appears to have
entertained respecting the Blafards whom he describes, considering
them as a class of beings degenerate, and entirely out of the r^ular
courte of nature, and as therefore incapable of the reproduction of their
m/ecies*

It has not fallen under my observation to determine whether two
à£ this sort, a male and a female, united together, would have issue^
but I am perfectly convinced that they are capable of procreation when
they mix with other individuals. A few years ago, a young child was
brought to me for baptism, the fruit of a connection between a
Chakrela woman and a European soldier, with whom she cohabited.
And, truly, without the courage and intr^idity of a soldier, he could
not have encoimtered so disgusting an object

In India, these beings are looked upon universally with horror.
Their parents, even, who have brought them into the world, abandon
them. Their colour is supposed to arise from leprosy ; and indeed the
name they are known by signifies lepers hy birth. It is reasonable to
conclude that so remarkable a deviation from the ordinary course of
nature, as the birth of a white infant from black parents, must
actually proceed from some disease contracted within the body of the
mother ; and it may be a kind of leprosy, as that disease, it is said,
does not hinder those who are affected with it from arriving at an ad»
vanced age.

When they die, their bodies are neither buried nor burnt, but cast
upon the dunghill. This custom is founded on a notion arising out of
the superstition of the country, which interdicts from the honours of
interment all who die under any* cutaneous or eruptive disorder. If
they did otherwise, the Hindus firmly believe that a general drought,
or some other public calamity would break out that year, over the
whole land.

Agreeably to this opinion, the Chakrelas, and those who have white
spots on their skin, such as are oflen seen on the soles of the feet
and the palms of the hands of some Hindus, together with those who
die of small-pox or other eruptions, or have any ulcer on the body

EXHUMATION OF CORPSES. — PERSONAL QUALITIES. 201

when they die5 and pregnant women dymg undelivered of the foetus ;
m aH such cases, the dead bodies are exposed in the open fields to be
devoured by wild beasts and birds of prey.

I have, more than once, been in districts afflicted with grievous
drought, where the inhabitants, becoming desperate from there being
no prospect of rain, and imagining that the defect arose from some
corpses, such as we have described, being secretly interred, have ga-^
thered in crowds to open the suspected graves. Diese they dig up,,
and carefully inspect the bodies which have perhaps lain for months^
drag them from their sepulchre, and throw upon the dunghill such as
they imagine to have been interred illegally. This horrid custom, of
thus rudely violating the ashes of the dead, is very common in those
parts where the Lingamites are numerous, as that sect follows the prac-
tice of burying their dead, in place of burning them, which is the ge-
neral custom among the Hindus. ^

But we will here drop the subject of the Chakrelas, the smallness of
their number making them of little importance, and proceed with our
description.

In general, the Hindus have the forehead small, the face thinner
and more meagre than the Europeans ; and they are also very much
inferior to them in strength and other physical qualities. They are
lean, feeble, and incapable of supporting the labours and fatigues which
the other race are habituated to. The Brahmans, in particular, scarcely
ever attempt any laborious efibrt of the body ; and when they do, it is
but momentary. This feebleness is, no doubt, occasioned by the nature
of the climate, as well as by the quality of the food to which the
greater number of Hindus are restricted. In general, they eat nothing
but seeds, or such insipid matters ; for, though most of them cultivate
rice, which appears to be a production of nature in the highest degree
suited to the use of man, and well adapted to sustain his vigour, the
mass of the people do not use it for their ordinary fare. They are
obliged to sell it, to get what is necessary for paying their taxes, to pro-
cure clothes, and supply their other domestic wants. After disposing of
their crop of rice, they nourish themselves, for the rest of the year, in
the best way they are able, upon the various sorts of small seeds, similar

D D

202 IMBECILITY.

to what are given in Europe to pigs or chickens: and it were ta
be wished that every Hindu had even this sorry fare at his com-
mand.

The same debility and tendency to degenerate, which is so visible in
the Hindus themselves5 appear to involve all animal existence in that
country, from the plant up to the human species. The grass, veget-
ables, and fruits, are all sapless ; at least, the greater part are devoid of
the nourishing qualities inherent in the same productions of nature in
other countries.

The domestic and wild animals, with the exception of the elephant
iand the tiger, are there found in a degraded state, both as to native
vigour and nutritive properties. All eatable things, of the most succu-
lent nature elsewhere, are insipid here. Nature seems, in this region,
to have fashioned all her productions animate or inanimate, on a scale
proportioned to the feeblen^s of the people. What she has provided
for the use or the service of a debilitated being, she has lowered in a
corre3ponding degree.

The imbecility of the mind keeps pace with that of the body. There
is. no country, I believe, where one meets with so many stupid or silly
creatures ; and, although in India there are to be found numbers o£
persons of good sense and moderate talents, and even some who, hy
means of a good education, have distinguished themselves advantage-
ously amongst their countrymen, yet I think it very doubtful whether,
during the three centuries in which the Europeans have been settled in
the country, they have ever discovered among them one true genius.

What they are, in point of courage, is well known ; their natural
cowardice being every where proverbial.

Neither have they sufficient firmness of mind to resist any applica-
tion that may be made to them on their weak side. Praise and flat-
tery will induce them to part with any thing they possess.
. They are. not less devoid of that provident spirit, which makes other
mortals think of their future wants and well-being, as much as of the
present. Provided the Hindu has just enough to support the vanity
and extravagance of the day, he never reflects on the state of misery
to which he will be reduced on the morrow, by his ostentatious and

MANNERS. 203

empty parade. He sees nothing but the present moment, and his
thoughts never penetrate into an obscure futurity.

From this want of foresight, chiefly, proceed the frequent and sud-
den revolutions in the fortunes of the Hindus, and the rapid trans-
itions from a state of luxury and the highest opulence to the most
abject wretchedness.

They support such overpowering shocks of fortune with much resig-
nation and patience. But it would be erroneous to ascribe their tran-
quillity, under such circumstances, to loftiness of spirit or magnanimity;
for it is the want of sensibility alone that prevents their minds from
being affected by the blessings or miseries of life.

It was probably with an intention to make some impression on their
unfeeling nature, and to stimulate their imagination, that their histories,
whether sacred or profane, their worship and laws, are so replenished
with extraordinary and extravagant conceits.

We must also ascribe to their phlegmatic temper, more than to any
perverseness of disposition, the want of attachment and gratitude with
which the Hindus are justly reproached. No where is a benefit con-
ferred so quickly forgotten as among them. That sentiment which is
roused in generous minds by the remembrance of favours received, and
which repays in some measure the liberal heart for the sacrifices which
its desire to oblige so often requires it to make, is quite a stranger to
the natives of India.

But we shall here drop the subject of their mental faculties, in which
they do not appear to great advantage, and return to the exterior qua^
lities of the Brahmans.

It is easy to distinguish a member of this cast, by a certain free and
unembarrassed air, something more easy and independent than is in
general to be met with in the other tribes. Without betraying any
appearance of affectation, their manner and movement sufficiently in-
dicate the consciousness they feel of their superiority in rank and
origin. One may recognise them also by their language, which is
exempt firom the low and vulgar expressions in use among the other
casts. Besides its superior purity and elegance, it i& more tinctured

IXD 2

20^ DRESS.

with the Sanscrit They have particular phrases also^ not employed
by the Sudras. In private conversation their discourse is diversified
with proverbial turns and allegorical allusions, briefly expressed.
Possessing a great copiousness of phrase, it often happens that, after
learning their language tolerably well, one is provoked to find that
he cannot understand a word that passes between any party of them,
when conversing familiarly with each other. In their talk, as well as
in their letters, they introduce a thousand gracefiil flights which they
know very well how to apply. Indeed they rather exceed just bounds
in this respect, as they have no moderation in the extravagance of their
compliments. They make no scruple to elevate above all the gods
those to whom they direct their flattery j and truly this is but the
first step in their ftilsome adulation.

But, to reverse the picture, and turn to their horrid and execrable
foulness of language and imprecations ; they must be admitted to have
a more unbounded supply of these flowers of speech than of the
courteous sort. For, although the Brahmans pride themselves on their
politeness and good education, they forget them both when their
passion is roused. On these occasions, such a torrent of the most in-
decent and obscene expressions issues from their impure mouths, that
one would be tempted to suppose they had made a particular study of
the language of invective and insult.

Nothing can be more simple than their primitive dress. A single
piece of doth, uncut, about three yards long and one in width, was
formerly, and in general still continues to be their only apparel. Being
wrapped round the loins, one end passes between the thighs, and is
fastened behind, while the other end, after being cast into several folds
in front, is allowed to hang down in a negligent, though not ungrace-
fiil way. This is the habit of those, in particular, who pride them-
selves the most on propriety and purity. Bathing gives little trouble,
with such a garment ; and they have generally a spare one for a change,
which sometimes they spread over their shoulders.

Many of them provide themselves with a piece of woollen cloth, to
wrap themselves in during the night, or in the cool of the morning.

HOUSES. 205

Since the European manufactures have become general in the
country 9 many Brahmans and other Hindus» have bought themselves
a piece of scarlet» with which they make a great shew.

It appears that they were accustomed to have the head uncovered»
or merely with the cloth thrown over it which serves to protect
their shoulders. At present» the greater number wear a turban ; an
ornament which they have borrow*^ ^^ from the Moors» consisting
of a long piece of very fine stuff» sometimes twenty yards in length»
by one in breadth ; and with this they encircle the head in many folds.

Those who are employed in the service of the Europeans or of
the Musalman princes» besides their ordinary dress» wear a long robe
of muslin or very fine cloth; which is also an imitation of the
Moors» and formerly unknown in the country. The Brahmans» how- ^
ever» keep up a distinction between themselves and the Musalmans»
by fastening it to the left side» in place of the right; and they sQme-
times wear, above this dress» a cincture of very fine texture passing
several times round the body.

The wealthy amongst them do not dress differently from the rest ;
but the vesture they wear about their loins» is generally of a finer cloth»
and ornamented with a fringe of red silk.

Almost all the Hindus wear golden ear-rings» of larger or smaller
size» and of difierent shapes» according to the custom of the various
countries. We shall hereafter describe this species of finery.

The plainness of their houses corresponds with that of their dress.
They are commonly constructed of earth» and thatched with straw»
especially in the country. Those who live in towns are for the most
part better accommodated. '

The inside of the house is like a small cloister, with a court within
it» and a gallery» from which» all round, there are entrances inta small
chambers» very dark, the use of windows not being known to the
Hindus, and the interior of the house receiving no light but from a
narrow passage.

The kitchen is situated in the most, ret red part of the house, and
quite* out of the view of strangers» who might happen to come on

806 HOUSES.

a visit or any other purpose. In the houses of the Brahmans, par-
ticularly, the kitchen door is always barred ; a precaution which they
use lest even the gaze of strangers should pollute their earthen vessels
for preparing their food, and oblige them to break them in pieces.

The hearth is almost always placed on the south-west quarter, which
is denominated the side of the god of fire^ because they say this deity
actually dwells there. Each of the eight points of the compass has
its divinity that presides over it.

As men, here, never visit the women, unless they be near relations,
and as the females are always occupied with household afiairs in the
inner apartments which strangers do not generally approach, the
fashion is to construct, at the gate of entrance, verandahs or
alcoves, both within and without, where the men assemble, and sitting
cross-legged, carry on their conversation, talk of business, dispute on '
religion or science, receive their visitors, or pass their time in empty
talk.

Besides private houses, there is generally one or more of public
erection in places of any considerable size, known to the Europeans
under the name of choultries^ and which merely consist of a vast empty
hall, open on one side the whole length. They serve not only to shelter
travellers, but are also used as courts of justice, where the chiefs of the
district assemble to discuss the afl&irs of the village, or to decide
differences and accommodate disputes. They likewise serve for temples,
in places where there is no other edifice set apart for içeligious worship^

( 207 )

CHAP. XVI.

OF THE RULES OF POLITENESS IN USE AMONG THE BRÂHMANS AND OTHER

HINDUS.-— OF THEIR VISITS AND PRESENTS.

XT would be useless and tiresome to detail the whole rules of polite^
ness which the Hindus observe with regard to each other. It will be
sufficient to mention some of the principal^ which will shew their par-
ticular turn on this point

The Hindus have many modes of scdidation. In some parts, they
manifest it by raising their right hand to the heart : in some, by
simply stretching it out towards the person who is passing, if they
know him. For they never salute those whom they are not acquainted
with. In many parts, there is no shew of salutation whatever. When
they meet any of their acquaintance, they content themselves with
saying a friendly word or two in passing, and then pursue their way.

They have likewise borrowed the Musalman scdam ; and they salute
both Moors and Europeans with this ceremony, which consists in
raising their hand to their forehead. When they address persons of
distinction and high rank, they give them the salam thrice, touching
the ground as often with both hands, and then lifting them up to their
foreheads. Sometimes they more nearly approach the person whom
they wish to distinguish by their attentions, and, instead of touching
the ground three times, they touch his feet as often with their handss
which they afterwards raise to their forehead.

The other casts salute the Brahmans by offering them the namaskaram..
This salutation consists in joining the hands and elevating them to the
forehead, or sometimes over the head. Such a mode of saluting im-
plies great superiority on the part of him to whom it is paid. It is ac^

208 RULES OF POLITENESS.

companied with these two words andam arya ; which signify, " Hail !
respected Lord !** The Brahmans, in return, stretching out their
hands half open, as if they wished to receive something from the
person who pays them homage, answer with this single word, arir--
vadaiUf " benediction !** When people do not intend to carry their
reverence to the utmost, they limit it by raising their hands no higher
than the breast.

I have translated this word by the term benediction^ because it is a
mysterious expression, composed in fact, of three terms of blessing,
which import many happy wishes in &vour of the person to whom
they are addressed. The Brahmans and Gurus alone have authority to
return the asirvadam, or to pronounce this sacred word over those who
treat them respectAilly, or make them presents.

Another very respectful mode of salutation consists in lowering both
hands to the feet of the person to be honoured, or even in falling down
and embracing them. This homage is sometimes paid by a son to his
father, and sometimes by a young man to his elder brother, when they
have met after a long separation : but in general children pass their
parents hundreds of times every day without paying them the slightest
attention.

Of all forms of salutation, the most striking and the most respectftd
is the sashtangam, or prostration of the eight members, elsewhere
mentioned, which consists in throwing themselves at their whole
length on the ground, and stretching out both arms over their heads.
This is practised before the Gurus or other high personages, and in
presence of an assembly, when they appear before it to solicit the
pardon of any misdeed.

When relations come in a body from distant parts to pay a visit of
ceremony, they make a pause near the place to which they are going,
and send a messenger to apprize their friends of their approach.
These immediately go in search of them and conduct them home with
the sound of music. But it is not customary to embrace on such
occasions, or on any other ; with the single exception, that in some
places, visits of condolence on the death of some very near relation
admit of it ; but, in the closest embrace, they always avoid touching

RULES OF POLITENESS. * 209

each others faces. And, in no case whatever, is a man permitted to
embrace a womam It would be. considered a monstrous impropriety.
A husband, even, cannot in public, use such familiarity with his own
wife, nor a brother with his sister, nor a son with his mother.

Relations who have been long separated testify their joy, when they
meet, by clinging closely together, chucking each other under the chin,
Vid shedding tears of joy.

The Brahmans and other Hindus, in quitting an apartment, follow
the same rule of politeness that we do, by letting the visitor walk first.
They differ in this from the Spaniards and Portuguese, who shew their
civility by doing quite the reverse. The objedt of this practice is to
avoid turning their back on their guest ; who, on his part, declines it-
also, as far as he is able, by going side by side with his entertainer-
until they are both out of doors.

Agreeably to this usage, when a person retires from the presence of
great men, he steps backwards or sidelong to a certain distance ; and
by the same rule, a servant attending his master on foot or on horse-
back never goes before him.

To tread in the footstep of any one, even by accident or inad-
vertency, demands an immediate apology ;• which is made by stretching
both hands towards the feet of the party offended.

To receive a blow is not considered a great matter, whether inflicted
by the fist or the bare foot: but when aimed at the head, so as to
make the turban fall off, it becomes a serious insult.

But by far the greatest of all indignities, and the most insupportable,
is to be hit with a shoe or one of the pantoufles which the Hindus com-^
monly wear on their feet. To receive a kick firom any foot with a
slipper on it is an injury of so unpardonable a nature, that a man
w:ould suffer exclusion, fi-om his cast who could submit to it without
receiving some adequate satisfaction. Even to threaten one with the
stroke of a slipper is held to be criminal and to call for animadversion.

One of the reasons which make them dislike to serve the Europeans
is, the great terror they are under of being kicked by their master with
his boots or, shoes. on; a sort of discipline, it must beiowned, not un-
exampled.

21Q RTJL^S OF FOLITENSSS.

The women, as a mark of their respect, turn their backs to the men
whom they hold in estimation. They must at least turn their faces
aside, and cover them well with their veils. When they go out of
doors, they must ke^ on their way without noticing goers or comars.
If they meet a man, they must hold down their head or avert their
countenance. They never are permitted to sit in the presence of men.
A married woman is not indulged in this privilege, even in the presence
of her husband.

Any person whatever must turn aside when he meets a person of
much superior rank. If on foot, he must go off the path, so as to leave
it unincumbered; and» if on horseback or in a palanquin, he must light
and remain standing till the great personage has passed and got to
some distance.

In speaking or saluting a superior, he must cast off his slippers. He
must do it also when he goes into his house. One is not permitted to
enter into a cow-shed even, with leather shoes on his feet Wherever
he has occasion to go, he must invariably leave his slippers at the door.
If he were to pass the threshold of his own houâe, or of any other,
with any integument, of leather, it would be considered on all hands
as an enormous impropriety.

In addressing any person of note, they must in politeness preserve a
certain distance from him, and cover their mouths with their hands
while they are speaking, lest their breath or a particle of moisture
should escape to annoy him.

It is only among equals that reciprocal salutations are admitted ; and
superior persons, when they receive this mark of respect from their
Inferiors, are not required to return it. The Brahmans, when ac-
costed with the namoêkaramy content themselves with giving back the
anrvadam. They behave differently indeed to the Europeans and
Moors, when their interest engages them to shew their manners. Unless
they have some motive of that sort, either of hope or fear, they never
salute foreigners in any way ; but under those circumstances, they per-
form their salam in one of the modes described already. But they
do not hesitate to make their different salutations, even the sashtangam
itself, to their Gurus or the Sannyasis of their cast.

VISITS AND PBESENTS. 211

It is the custom in iseveral of the southern provinces of the penin-
sula for the men to uncover their shoulders and breast, when addressing
any person for whom they have respect It is also observed by the
women of certain casts, particularly of that which is known in the
country of Tamul by the name of Molamai^ who always, when under
the necessity of speaking to a man, uncover the upper part of thé
body from the head to the girdle, and wrap round their middle the part
of the clothing which usually covers the shoulders and chest They
act in the same way when speaking to their husbands, or other persons
at home, whom they are bound to reverence. It would be thought a
want of politeness and good breeding to speak to men with that part
of the body clothed.

When the Hindus visit a person of consideration for the first time,
civility demands that they should take with them some present, as a
mark of deference and respect, or to. shew that they come with a
friendly intention, especially if their object be to ask some favour in
return. But, in any case, to approach respectable people with empty
hands would be considered as an act of presumption. When the means
of offering presents of value are wanting, they carry with them, on their
visits, sugar, bananas, cocoa nuts, betel, milk, and other simple
offerings.

Some visits are held to be indispensable, such as those of condolence
and of Fongolj which shall be afterwards explained. They com-
mence on the first day of the return of the sun, when that luminary,
according to the Hindu calculation, enters the tropic of Capricorn,
and begins his approach, infiising as it were a new life into all nature.

The festival to which this epoch gives rise is celebrated with un-
usual pomp and solemnity in the Tamul territory. The day itself and
the two that follow it are distinguished above all others for the presents
which friends and relations mutually offer, consisting of new earthen
vessels, on which certain figures are drawn with chalk j of ground
rice, slips of bastard safiron, and various fiiiits. These presents are
carried with much solemnity with the sound of musical instruments.
A present of this sort is of most indispensable obligation from a

£ £ 2

212 VISITS AND PRESENTS.

mother to a married daughter. If it were neglected the mother-in-law
wtiuld resent the omission to her dying day*

With regard to the visits in cases of mourning, they never can be
represented» as they often are with us, by letters of condolence. Some
one of the family must go in person, although at a distance of thirty or
forty leagues. Indeed hardly any difficulty can be offered as an excuse
for the nun-performance of this duty.

( 213 )

CHAP. XVII.

OF THE DECORATIONS WORN BY THE HINDUS, AND THE DIFFERENT EMBLEMS

WITH WHICH THEY ADORN THEIR PERSONS.

JUiVERY Hindu, without excepting those even who engage in the
profession of penitence and renunciation of the world, wears ear-rings
of gold. The penitents, indeed, or Sannyasis, who were supposed to
have overcome the three great lusts of women, honours, and riches, have
them made of brass instead of the more precious metal.

These pendants are of different sorts and shapes ; but most com-
monly of an oval form. They are sometimes large enough to admit
one's hand to go through them. For the most part they are made of
a slender ring of copper, round which gold wire is twisted so as to cover it
entirely. People of ordinary condition ornament it with a pearl or pre^-
cious stone, which is attached to the centre of the pendant and adds to
its beauty.

This species of ornament, of a size sometimes so preposterous, will
not appear improbable to those who have attended to the practice in
the remotest antiquity, as described in the antient writings, sacred and
profane. At times they load their ears with four or five pairs, particu-
larly during the ceremony of marriage.

Some likewise wear, at the middle of the ear, a little golden trinket,
to which they attach a precious stone ; whilst others fix this, ornament
to the upper part of the cartilage.

The poor people have small pendants of little value dangling at each
ear; and, in whatever distress they may be, the universal fashion re-
quires that this organ should not be without its ornament

Some people of distinction and wealth wear round their necks gold
chains, or a species of chaplets of pearls 'which descend to the bosom.

2^4 DBCORATIONS,

Many of them are seen with rings of gold and of silver, in which
precious stones are set, of very high value. They frequently add to
these several ornaments large bracelets of massy gold, of more than
a pound weight each. The men, likewise, after they are married^
generally wear silver rings upon their toes.

But there is an ornament quite peculiar to the people of India, and
which seems to be unknown to other polished nations in modem times,
although it appears to have been used in early ages by the nations of
antiquity. It consists of various marks or emblems inscribed on the
forehead and other parts of the body. The simplest of all, and at the
same time the most common, is that to which they give the name of
Pottu9 being nothing more than a small circle of about an inch in dia-
meter, stamped on the middle of the forehead ; of a red colour, or
sometimes black, or yellow. This last colour is procured by rubbing
sandal wood on a flat stone, from whence a liquid odoriferous paste is
formed, with which they impress the sign on the middle of the fete-
head.

Some instead of the PottUy draw between the eye-brows three or four
horizontal lines. Others describe a perpendicular line which descends
from the top of the forehead to the root of the nose.

Some northern Brahmans apply this liquid paste of sandal to either
jaw, with much effect. Others again use it to colour the neck, the
breast, the belly, the arms, with various images and figures ; and some
have their whole bodies besmeared with it. Many of them mix the
paste with vermillion or other ingredients, according to the colour
which they prefer. ^

The Vishnuvite Brahmans, as well as the other Hindus who are par-
ticularly devoted to the worship of Vishnu, adorn their foreheads
with the figure called Nama^ which has been already described to
be a line, generally red, drawn perpendicularly on the middle of the
forehead, and two white lines collaterally, which unite at the base with
the middle line, and give to the whole the appearance of a trident, pro-
ducing an extraordinary and at times a ferocious air in thpse who are
so conspicuously marked. Some devotees of the sect have it imprinted,
likewise, on the arms, the shoulders, the breast and the belly.

DBCOBATIONS. 215

The marks which the disciples of Siva bear on their foreheads and
otihier parts of the body are always put on with the ashes of cow-dtmg,
or the ashes gathered where dead bodies have been burned Some
devotees of this sect have their whole skin thus speckled from head to
foot. Others draw large bars not only across the forehead but on the
arms^ breast, and belly.

A great number of Hindus, who are not connected with any sect,
likewise rub their foreheads with the ashes. The Brahmana never lay
them on in that manner upon any part of the body, but occasionally, in
the morning, draw a small honrizontal line over the middle of the fore*
head, to denote that they have bathed and are pure.

The Hindus adopt a great variety of other marks, of various shape
and colour. Some are peculiar to certain casts ; others are in use in
9ome particular countries only, but the most of them denoting the ex-
clusive devotion they entertain for some sect

It is difficult to explain the origin . and meaning of many of these
symbols, the greater number of those who use them being ignorant of it
themselves. Some may be found who consider it merely as a matter of
ornament ; though, certainly, the great majority have superstition only
for their end and aim.

But, whatever the motive may be, the custom and fashion require
that every man should have his forehead adorned with some one of the
marks used in the country. To have it bare, is the token of being in
mourning, or it signifies that they are yet unbathed and have not broken
their fast ; and it is as inconsistent with decorum for any one to present
himself in that unseemly condition before any company or any indivi-
dual of respectability, as it would be in Europe to go into polite society
with matted hair and disordered apparel.

The women are by no means so attentive to this kind of decoration
as the men. They content themselves in general with exhibiting the
little circle on the middle of the forehead, of red, black, or yellow,
called FottUj which we before described. Sometimes they draw a single
red line horizontally or perpendicularly, and rub a little of the ashes on
it, according to the custom of their cast But to make up for their
negligence in this species of decoration, they frequently rub the face.

216

DECORATIONS.

lég^j and all the parts of the body that are exposed^ with a water made
yellow by the infusion of bruised saffron. They expect, by that con- .
trivance, to set off* their beauty, and make their dark skin fair ; though
such a specific tends to make them more dingy, and even disgusting, in
the eyes of Europeans.

One finds it difficult to believe that the people of India can imagine^
such bedaubing and other devices, so ridiculous in our eyes, to be orna-
mental, and 'to augment their charms; but to them, on the other hand,
it is matter of great astonishment and ridicule, to see a young Europe-
an, perhaps twenty years old, with his hair powdered, and made as
white as the hoary locks of a decayed man of eighty. They cannot re^
concile to themselves how rational beings can thus degrade the principal
ornament of the human frame by changing its native qualities.

But they are most of all disgusted with the wigs, made up of hair^
shorn sometimes firom a leprous skull, sometimes from that of a prosti-
tute, or perhaps even of a putrid carcase. Â bald head^ to be sure, is
no misfortune in so warm a country ; but, at all events, they would
think it preferable to the dreadful alternative of covering the crown with
«uch disgusting and abominable offal.

Vœ tibi ! vœ nigrœ !
Picabat cacabus ollœ.

( 217 )

CHAP. XVIIÏ.

I •

OF THE MARRÎHD BRAHMAN WOBISN } THEIR DRESS AKD ORNABCENTS*

What I have to relate conœrning the Brahmanaris^ or Brahman
women, will equally apply to other individuals of the sex in different
casts* Yet there is but little to be said concerning the Hindu women^
from the small consideration in whidi they are held ; always treated
as if they were created for the mere enjoyment of the men, or for their
service. They are supposed to be incapable of acquiring any degree
of the mental capacity which a greater ascendant in society would
surely confef upon them, by rendering them of more importance in the
affiiirs of life. But they are so low in estimation that, when a man has
done any thing reprehensible, it is quite proverbial to say, that he haA
acted in the spirit of a woman. She, on the other hand, as an excuse
for any fiiult, lays all the blame on the natural inferiority of her sex.

Agreeably to this mode of judging of the fair sex, the education of
the women is utterly neglected. They never <;ultivate, in any d^re^
the understanding of the young girls ; though many of them are natur-
ally ingenious, and would shine under the advantages of education. It
is thought quite sufficient in India that a woman can grind and boil their
rice, or attend to the other household concerns, which are neither nu«
merous nor difl&cult to acquire.

The immodest girls, who are employed in the worship of the idoles
and other public prostitutes, are the only women taught to read, to
sing, and to dance. It would be thought the mark of an irr^^lar edu-
cation if a modest woman were found capable of reading. She herself
would conceal it out of shame. As to the dance» it is confined entirely
to the profligate girls, who never mix in it with the meut In singing,

F F

218

BIASRISD WOMEN.

the modest women» m some places, jom ; but it is only at marriages or
other ceremonies among their relations, and never in the company of
strangers.

The work of the needle is generally imknown to a Hindu femiale»
Almost all the inhabitants make use of clothing in the piece, uncut ;
and therefore there is no occasion for employing the art of sewing.
For the same reason they are ignorant of knitting ; but they are idl
skilled in spinning cotton. This labour occupies almost all their lei-
sure, and i^rds to many of the poor the means of living. There are
few houses that are not provided with one or more of the little machines
used in this domestic art

We have before observed» that as the Brahmans many their daughter^
extremely young, they make them return to their paternal home as
soon as the 'ceremony is completed, where they continue till they arriye
at a marriageable age; and fresh' ceremonies take place on this Hew
occasion.

When the event which marks this epoch takes place, it is speedily
communicated to the husband, and published with the soitnd of trum-
pets ; and, before the days of purification from this first stain are endlfd^
the relations assemble to festivals, and celebrate the various rites parti-
cularly described in the chapter on Marriage*

Undoubtedly, the principal motive for tihiis festival is the near pro-
spect which the parents of the young couple have now before them of a
new generation about to spring from their immediate descendants.
For no people in the world have so ardent a desire, ; as ^e Hindus
manifest, to perpetuate their lineage.

This festival has the name of Marriage complete. The young woman
who ia the object of it cannot appear in it, as her uncleanness requires a
purification of several days, during which she is not adttiitted into the
presence of men, but must remain secluded in a placé of retirement*

When the purification is completed, she returns into the family ; and
thé women make her undergo the greatest pait of those ceremonies
which hâve been described, particularly such as are designed to ccmn-
teract the fascination of spells and evil glances; Some days afterwards

BfARRISD WOHBN. 319

she is conduced with pomp and state to.t£e house of her fitther-in-
law, where she ia trained to live with her husband.

When a woman, particularly of the Brahman cast, becomes pregnant,
the ceremonies which she undergoes have no end. There are some ap-
jdicable to everj one of the months of gestation. . It is also absolutely
necessary that she should lie-in at her father's house. For this purpose,
her mother demands her about the seventh moath, and she is not al-
lowed to return .until she is perfectly recovered; But on na considération
will she go home, unless her motherrin-law or some other near relation
attends to conduct her. This is a general and invariable rule in every
cast Very frequenUy a discontented wife forsajces her husband ; and
though it may be for no other reason than a transient fit 6f ill humour
or caprice, and a matter entirely of her own seeking, yet will she never
return to her mother^in*law, unless she receives from her the first
advances^

These domestic discords, and the consequent flight of the lady to her
paternal home, are very common. They generally originate from the
extremely harsh and domineering manner in which their mothers^in-
laW: conduct themselves towards them» looking on them as slaves pur-
chased with money^ They embroil the husband and wife with false
reports, lest they should live too lovingly, and lest the wife, by being
too much caressed, should cease to be obedient Yet this is but an
imaginary danger, as the l^usband looks on his wife merely as his. ser-
vant, and never as his companion. He thinks her eàtitled to no atteii^
tions, and never pays her any, even in familiar intercourse.

The women, on the other hand, are so accusto|néd £o the austere
manners of their husbands, that they would disapprove a contrary be-
haviour, imd despise their husbands if they treated them with easy
familiarity. I have seen a wife, in a rage with her husband for talking
with her in an easy strain. ^^ His behaviour covers me with shame,"
quoth sh^ ^^ and I dare no longer shew my face. Such conduct
^^ amongst us was never seen till now. Is he become a^ Paranquay,
^^ and does he suppose me to be a woman of that cast ?"

* Paranquay is a term of reproach by which they designate the Europeans. It is derived
from the word Frankfranqiys and was introduced into India by the Moors.

FP 2

fgQ SSBSS OF

>^«

"But^ degraded as the Hindu women are in private life, it matt he
allowed that they receive the highest respect in public Thejr certainfy
do not pay them those flat and frivolous compliments which are used
amoi^st us, and which are the disgrace of both sexes ; but, on the
other hand, they have no insults to dread. A woman may go whereso^
ever she pleases ; she may walk in the most puUic places (must I except
those where the Europeans abound ?) and have nothing to fear from
libertines, numerous as they are in the country. A man who should stop
to gaze on a woman in the street, or elsewhere, would be university
hooted as an insolent and a most low-bred fellow.

We have said enough on the subject of women, in a country where
they are considered as scarcely forming a part of the human specieti
But we shall add something concerning their dress and their manners^^
. The dress consists ofa simple piece oftissue used only by women. It is
about nine or ten yards in length, and sometimes more, and its breadth
is above a yard. It may be seen, in every variety of quality and price,
and of all colours. They are bordered at the ends with a colour difiêr-»
ent from that of the robe. Each extremity is wrapped round the body
two or three times, forming a sort of tight petticoat, falling in fiont aa
low as the feet ; but not so far behind, because the end of the web, pasa^
ing between the thighs, is tucked up to the waist, and leaves the legs
uncovered behind, as high sometimes as the ham; But this fashion of
dress is limited to the Brahmanaris* The women of other casts fastei
the web in a difierent manner, so as to form a completer and more
modest covering than the former. Another part of the cloth passed
over the head, shoulders, and breast, in the districts where those parts
are habitually covered.

. The dress of the women, therefore, is of an entire piece as well as
that of the men ; and, for that reason, it is extremely convenient fer
bathing ; a practice which the rules of purity require from the females
of the tribe as much as from the males ; and they are no less addicted
to it.

In some parts, they wear a sort of jacket, which does not reach so
high as the shoulders ; but this is a foreign custom borrowed from the
Moors.

DBGDRATIONS OF WOMEN.

*I have seen Brahman women» on the coast of Malabar» who^ together
with, the women of the other casts of that country» always appeared with
their bodies half naked; I mean quite uncovered down to the girdle.
This appears to have been the ancient mode of dressing all over the
p^iinsula» and is still retained in the mountainous parts» where many
other customs are preserved in pristine vigour.

The Hindu women paint on the arms of their young daughters vari^
ous figures» chiefly of flowers. It is done by slightly pricking the skm
with a needle» and inserting into thç punctures the juice of oertaiot
plants. These marks are never efiaced» and continue imperishable <»
the skin during life. Where the complexion is not very dark» they also
decorate the face» by this art» in various places» particularly the chin:
and the cheeks. These spots resemble the patches sometimes put on
by the European ladies to set off their beauty. But» when the skin is
very dark» they are considered as useless. •

Besides the yellow tincture made with safiron water» already men^
tioned» which is used chiefly by the Brahman women» to stain the &ce
and other uncovered parts of the body» they paint, with black thé border
of the eye-lashes» particularly while they are young. It relieves the
white of the eyes» and adds to their lustre.

As to their hair» to give it à sleek and glossy appearance» they fre-
quently rub it over with oil ; and» separating it into two equal clusters^
from the forehead to the crown» one on the right and the other on the
left» they unite them together behind» and» rolling them up in a parti*^
cular way» form. a copious bunch which is fixed over the left ear.

The Hindu women» in general» have beautifidly black hair» and never
of any other colour. But it is wholly different firom that of the negroes^
being as fine and as smeoth as our own* They ornament it with sweet
scented flowers» and fi^uently with trinkets of gold. For» silver em«^
bellishments are not permitted to be worn on any part of the body»
except a single buckle on the braid bdhind» which serves to tuck up
the hair.

The ornaments of silver are appropriated to the arms, but more camfi
monly to the legs and feet. Those on the legs are truly fetters» wei^i^
ing sometimes two or three pounds* . _ -M

222 OBCORATIONS OF WOMEN.

. ?j(Eadbito6 has its particular ring^. so broad above as to conceal the
wliol6'toe>vi ii.: . f •

.' The troinkets for the anus ^are. of various kinds. The bracelets aie
sotnetimes formed globular and hollo w» and more than an inch in dia-
meter ; while others have them flat» and perhaps two inches in breadth.
Some wear them round the wrists and others, i^ve the elbow. Thejr
are eitha; gold or »lver, and of various shape» according to the fashion
of the oountrj and the cast The poor have them of brass ; and some
Bxe ^ seen with jsnore than half the arm covered over with a number i£
large rings of glasSé^

. Round ibeb necks >^re hung several chains of gdid or silver^ and
strings of large beads of gold,: pieari, craal, or glass, according to the
ability of the wearer. Some have eidlars of^gold^ an inch broad, set
with rubies, topazes, emeralds and other precious stones. With such
ornaments all of them are"^ bedecked ; each, according to her fancy or
means.

There are a great number of other decorations, the names of which
it would require long study to acquire. They differ in «hfl^ in the
various districts. I know eighteen or twenty species of ornaments for
the ears alone.

But, as if all these toys were not sufficient, the women, in several
districts at least, wear another of a particular form on the right side of
the nose, where it i& suspended through a little hole purposely bored
at the extremity of the nostril. It hangs sometimes as low as the
under lip. This last embellishment, the form of which is also varied
in the different casts, is scarcely met with in the country of Tamul, but
is universally seen in those of Canara and Talugu.

It raises our wonder to see a woman who is invested with all this

■

finery, bearing a pail of water on her head, grinding rice, and perform-
ing the other household labours. The wives of the Brahmans them-
selves never scruple to discharge those domestic duties.

It would, however, be too much to suppose that every woman was
possessed of all the fine things we have ^oiumerated, their wealth of
this kind depending on the riches of their parents and husbands.
But it is always a stipulation, in a contract of marriage, how much of

ORNAMENTS OF CHILDREN.

2S8

this precious commodity is to be contributed by the Êither-in-law^ and
how much the bride is to carry with her from home. The jewels» thus
obtained, become their inalienable property ; which they never fail^
when they become widows, to vindicate as their own.

The children of either sex are likewise ornamented with various
trinkets of the same form, though smaller than those of grown persons.
They .have also some that are {>eculiar. As all children in bidia go
perfectly naked till they are six or seven years old, the parents of
course, adapt the ornaments to the natural parts of the body. Thus,
the girls have a plate of metal suspended so as to conceal, in some
measure, their nakedness. The boys, on the other hand, have little
béUs^ hiing round them, or smne similar device of' siItbc or .gol4 at^
tached to the little bdit with which they are girt Amongst the^rest, a
particular trinket appears in front, bearing a resemblance to the eexiial
part of the

. •• A"

■* •

:■.,'. ■ ■•

r •

•"!• ■ •

t ' . J-;

' I .'

; ■ • .

. >

( 2^ )

CHAP. XIX.

THE STATE OP WZDOWSOOD. SECOND MABUAQES NOT PSRICITTEIK

f ■

'X HE happiest lot th^t can befal a woman oi India» and particulariy
cue of the Brahman cast, is to. die in the married state. Their bool»
pronounce that such an exit is the reward of good deeds done in a pre*
ceding existence*

When the husband dies first, just before his parting breath, the wife
flies to her toilet ; and for the last time in her life, adorns herself with
all her jewels and her finest attire. She is no sooner dressed than she
returns, with marks of the profoundest grief on her countenance, and*
throWi| herself on the body of her dead husband, which she embraces
with loud shrieks. She continues to clasp him fast in her arms, until
the relations, who are generally quiet spectators of what is going on,
thinking she has acquitted herself sufficiently of this first demonstra-
tion of grief, attempt to take her away from the body. She wiU not
yield, however, to any thing but forcç, and appears to make violent
efforts to disengage herself fi'om their restraint so as to precipitate her-
self again upon the corpse. But, finding herself overpowered, she
must be contented with rolling upon the ground, as if she were bereft
of reason, striking her bosom violently, tearing off her hair in handfiils,
and giving several other proofs of the sincerity of her sorrow. She is
compelled to act in this manner, were it only in dissimulation, and to
save appearances ; as it is all in conformity with custom, and appertains
to the ceremony of mourning.

After exhibiting these first evidences of despair,, she gets up ; and,
assuming a more composed appearance, approaches the body of her
husband. Addressing it, in a style rather beyond the limits of real

THE STATEi OF WIDOWHOOD. 225

affection she demands — ^^ Why hast thou forsaken me? What evil
<^ Have I done that thou hast left me at this untimely age? Had I not
" always for thee the fondness of a faithful wife? Was I not attentive to
" household afiairs? My pretty children, whom I have brought «thee !
" what will become of them, and who will protect them, now thou art
" dead ? Did I not neatly serve up thy rice ? Did not I devote myself to
" provide thee good eating? What did I leave undone? and who hence
" forward will take care of me?" Such pathetic appeals as these she
utters in a sad and lamentable tone ; and, at each demand she pauses,
to allow scope to her grief, which then breaks forth in violent screams,
and with torrents of blasphemies against the gods, who hiave deprived
her of her protector. The women who are attending wait till she has
finished her lamentations, which they re-echo nearly in * the same

dismal tone. • .

She continues to apostrqphize her husband in this manner, till her
wearied lungs can no longer afford her the means of . making her
afflictions audible, or till her exhausted eloquence has spent all its
stores. It is then time for her to withdraw, that she may enjoy
some repose, and meditate upon some new harangues to be addressed
to the dead body when they are preparing for its obsequies.

The more vehement thé expression of the widow's grief on such
occasions, and the louder her exclamations, so much the more is she
esteemed for her intelligence and sentiment. The young women
who are present listen to every word she speaks, and diligently
observe all her gestures ; and, when they are struck with any thing
that appears new or interesting in either, they diligently treasure it up
in their memory, to be used at some future time when, in their turn,
tbey are brought into the same predicament.

. . It would be highly discreditable to a woman, under such circum-
stances, to forbear these expiression^ of violent sorrow. I was
once appealed to by some relations of a young widow, whose stupidity
was so gross, they said, that at her hiisband's dçath she had not a word
to say; but only wept

These ceremonies, wailings, and lamentations have been continued
from high antiquity. Very distinct traces of this are visible in the Holy

G G

225 THE STATE OF WnX)WHOOD.

Scripture ; in that passage, for example, (Gen. ch. 23.) which relates to
the death of Sarah the wife of Abraham ; and, still more (ch. 5Ôi),
where this kind of ceremony, was practised by Joseph at the interment
of his father : " And they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which
^* is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore
'^ lamentation : and he made a mourning for his father seven days. And
<^ when* the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning
" in the floor of Atad, they said this is a grievous mourning to the
" Eg3rptians ; wherefore the name of it was called Abel-mizraim ;" that
is, the mourning of the Egyptian^.

It is well known that the Romans hired mourners to attend their
funerals, who were paid well, in proportion to the apparent vehemence
of their sorrow.

In like manner, it is the custom in» India to engage women for pay,
to assist on such occasions, to add to the /solemnity of the mourning
by their tears and lamentations. These weeping hirelings when sent
for, instantly assemUe about the deceased, with hair dishevelled and
half their bodies bare, and commence by setting up the loud shout of
lamentation in unison ; then weep in gentler cadence, and beat, time to
the measure by thumping their bosoms with both hands. Sometimes,
in mild apostrophe, they reproach the dead for his cruelty in departing ;
and sometimes join in high eulogium on the virtues and good qualities
which he exhibited in hisHife. Each, in her turn, pours out her
measure of reproof and commendation. Their assumed grief disappears
as soon as the body is carried to its obsequiesi. They receive their
wages, and mourn no longer.

The widows, who, in the learned tongue, are called Vidhava^
which bears a great resemblance to the Latin Vidua^ are less regarded
than any other women, especially if they are without children; in
which case they are spurned by all the world. They are then called
Munda^ a term of derision and even of abuse, as it signifiés shaved
head ; which was, indeed, their allotment by the old law, though it be
not enforced at present^ any more than 'that which prohibits them the
use of betel.

SECOND MARIUAGES NOT PERMITTED. 227

They cannot wow wear any ornaments^ excepting one of a plain sort,
which is fastened round the neck. Ck>loured clotiiing is interdicted.
In most parts they are allowed white only. Neither are they permitted
to stain their faces with safiBron water; nor even to imprint on their
foreheads any of the. symbols form^ly described. They are excluded
from all ceremonios of joy ; such as that of marriage, where their
appearance would be considered an evil omen.

A woman is coQiitituted widow^ some days after the death of her
husband, by a part^ioular ceremony. The relations and near con-
nexions of her own sex, being assemUed in the house of the deceased,
after partaking of â repast which has been prepared for them, encircle
the widow who is the object of their meeting, and exhort her to be re-
conciled to her unfortunate destiny. Having joined with her for some
time in weeping over it, they make her sit down ; and her nearest female
relation, after an exordium of some frivolous ceremonies, cuts the
thread, by which the Tahly is suspeilded, that little golden ornament
which all wives in India wear at their necks as the symbol of their
marriage. Then the barber is called, who shaves her head. By these
two ceremonies she instantly sinks into the despised class of widows ;
of which, being conscious, she fails not to make the air resound with
her cries while they are going on, and with bitter curses of her unhappy
lot.

We have formerly had occasion to remark that, however young or
beautiftd the widow may be, a new union is altogether impossible, by
reason of the invincible customs of the country, which forbid it.

It has also been remarked that, as the progress of libertinism, in our
hemisphere, has counteracted the propensity to wedlock, and made
Europe the region of single women ; so India, from its peculiar habits,
has become that of widows. The cast of the Brahmans is in this
respect pre-eminent. The disorders engendered by the prohibition of
second nuptials are real, but not so frequently felt as might be sup-
posed ; which must in a great measure be attributed to the gravity of
the widows, and the naturally chaste temperament of the Hindu women,
which is certainly far beyond what is conceded to them by some ill
informed writers.

66 2

SBCCXND kARRIAGfiS NOT PERMUTED;

We may enumerate also^ among the .causes of their reserved be-
haviour, the constant vigilance and attention which the parents of the
young women and widows exert to prevent them from ever being alone ;
as well as the system of the country, which admits of no familiar in-
tercourse between males and females^ but punishes severely the slightest
offences against decorum,' on the acknowledged ground that they
quickly degenerate into greater abuses. ' . ,

I was formerly accustomed to inveigh against the cruel usage which
restricts the young widows from a, second marriage ; and I have even
made myself enemies amongst the natives, by using too much freedom
on that subject. But I have completely changed my opinion, after
mature reflection on both sides of the question, and particularly after
observing the great proportion of young girls that remain in a single
state in some of the inferior casts which permit the remarrying of
widows. And, seeing it is necessary that in the ordinary course of so-
ciety, a part of the women must be without husbands, the question is,
whether it be not more reasonable that this unprovided class should con-
sist of those who have once experienced the happiness or misery . of
living with a husband, than of others who have never stood in a relation
so congenial to our nature. These should have their turn also, that a
trial may be afforded to each, of her ability to make that state per-
manently happy. In no view does society lose any thing by this
restraint ; and on a great scale, it is of little importance whether it be
by the marriage of young maidens or of young widows, that children
are produced to the state.

( 229 )

CHAP. XX.

RULES AND FBECEPTS FOR THE CONDUCT OF MARRIED WOMEK«

1 CANNOT better exhibit the manner of thinking adopted by thl"
Hindus concerning the conduct to be expected from wivps, than by
copying what is prescribed on that subject in the Padma purana^ one
of the books. of highest authority which they possess.

The author introduces, as the speaker, one of the celebrated seven
penitents, who was ordained to prescribe the rules whick we are about
to adduce, and which were compiled for the purpose of attaching every
wpman to her husband and to the duties of her condition.

I pretend not to approve the whole. Some of them appear to me
absurd, or at least useless, and some others injurious to the welfare
' of society ; and the greatest number seem intended to reduce the
women to , a state of the most abject slavery. But one does not
Wonder to find here some mixture of the follies of Hindu superstition,
which are never wantiog in all cases whether grave, or unimportant.

I should have been pleased' to find a little more of order and con-
nection in the institutes: of our author. This portion of his work,
although one of the most interesting, is not the best, composed. But
I shall give it as it is: an authentic model of Hindu diction.

fa. *

^^ Hear me attentively, great jdng of Lippa ! I will; expound to thee
^^ how a virtuous and affectionate woman ought to conduct herself
^^ towards her husband. So said the great penitent Vàsishta.

^^ A woman has no other god on earth than her husband. The most
" ex;cellent .of all the good works ihe can perform is to gratify
" him with the strictest obedience. This should bé her only
^^ devotion.

^^ RULES AND PRECEPTS FOR

" Her husband may jje crooked, aged, infirm; offensive in his

^^ manners. Let him also be choleric and dissipated, irregular, a

^^ drunkard, a gambler, a debauchee. Suppose him reckless of his

' << domestic affairs, even agitated like a demon. Let him live in

^^ the world destitute of honour. Let him be deaf or blind. His

^^ crimes and his infirmities may weigh him down ; but never shall
^^ his wife regard him but as her god. She shall serve him with
^^ all her might ; obey him in all things, spy no defects in his
^^ character, nor give him any cause of disquiet.
- ^^ In every stage of her life,. a woman is created to obey. At first,
^^ she yields obedience to her father and mother. When married,
<< she submits to her husband, and her father and mother-^in4aw. In
^^ old age, she must be ruled by her children. During her life^

^^ she can never be under her own controul.

^^ Diligent she must always be in her domestic labours ; watchful
^^ over her temper ; never covetous of what belongs to another.
^^ She must avcuid dispute. She must persist in her task, till l)er
^^ husband bids her desist^ Her deportment and her mind must
*^ be always serene. .

^^ She may see things she would be delighted to possess ; but let
^^ her not seek to obtain them, without the consent of. her
" husband.

^^ If a stranger insinuates himself, and woos her with the most im^
^^ petuous passion ; if he ic^ers ' her the richest garments and
" jewels above all price : -p— by the gods ! she will spurn him fi"om
" her presence.

^^ When a passenger shews a desire to look at her, she must shun
^^ him with downcast looks, and walk on in utter disregard of him,
'^ meditating only on her husba^. Never will she look in the
^^ face of any other man. Thus acting, she will receive the
'^ applause of the world.

*' If her husband laugh, she ought to Jaugh. If he weep, she will
^^ weep also. . If he is disposed to speak, she will join in conver-
^^ sation. Thus is the goodness of her nature displayed.

THE CONDUCT OP MARRIED WOIifEN. 2S1

^^ She never notices whether any other man be young or well made,
^< nor holds conversation with him. So let her act» and she shall
" have the praise of a &ithful wife !

^V And equally high in reputation shall she stand» who, seeing before
^ her the most beautiful of* the gods» shall view him wttli disdain»

. M: as unworthy of being compared with her husband.

^^ What woman would eat till her husband had first had his fill? If
'^ he abstains» she will surely fast also. If he is sad» will she not
'^ be sorrowfiil } and» if be is gay», will she not leap for joy?

^^ In the absence of her husband» her raiment must foe mean. *

^^ Holding in low estimation her children» her grahd^K^hildren and
^^ her jewels, in comparison with her husband ; wheii he dies she
^^ will bum herself with him ; and i$he ^ill be applauded by the
" whole world for her attachment.

^* Her. father-in-law» he* mother-in-law and her husband» ate all
entitled to her • afiection ; and if ihe sees them squandering
away all the substance of the fomily» she shall not complain of
<< their acts» &r less oppose them. '

^' The labours of the household she must be always ready and diligent
" to discharge.

" CarefiiUy let her perform her daily ablutions» and the colouring of

• " her body with the safiron dye. Let her attire be elegant ; her

^^ eye-lids be tinged with black on their edges» and her forehead

^^ coloured with red. Her hair shall also be combed and beau-

<^ teously braided. Thus shall she resemble the Akchimi.

• ■

*^ Sweptly let her words distil^ from her mouth ; and more and' more
" to please her husband be her only aim. •

*< When he goes out for a supply 6f wood and leaves ; for the pur-
" pose of plrayer or bathing» m for whatever other cause; she
" ought to watch the moment of his return» be ready to go before
<^ him» to introduce him to ail apartment» to find him a seat» and
*^ to serve him with the fooi that he relishes.

<^ She should remind him of any thing that is wanting at home» and
^ whatever he supplies she' must manage with care.

^£ RULES AND PRECEPTS FOR

•^ Prudent in speech^ she must conversé with the Gurus, the San-
v« niâsi, with strangers, servants, and every one besides, in a way
" becoming herself and agreeable to them. •

^^ In. using the authority which her husband has committed to her
^^ at home, she will conduct herself with prudence and mildness.

" Whatever money she receives from him; she must faithfully ex-
" pend, with no reservation for herself or her friends, not even for
^^ charitable purposes unauthorised by her husband.

^< She must meddle iii nothing that passes. She must* listen to no
" tales, whether lively or sad.

^^, Never let her yield to anger, or bear malice against others*

^< She will abstain from whatevep food her husband dislikes. She
^^ shall not anoint her head or her body with oil, \dien he forbears
" to use it.

<< When he goes abroad, if he bids her gdwith him, she shall follow.
^< If he bids her stay, dhe shal} stir no where during his absence.
<< There shall be no bathing, nor rubbing with oil. She shall not
^^ clean her teeth or pare her nails, nor eat oftener than once a
^' day. She shall not recline on a couch, nor wear her liew attire,
" nor deck her head.

" A woman, when the complaints of her sex occur, shall hide her-
^< self in a place detached from the dwelling, as if she were a
^< Fariatta, or as if she had slain a Brahman. During that time, she
" must see nobody, not even her children, nor the light of the
*« sun. On the fourth day she shall go forth to bathe. Twelve
•* times shall she plunge into thé water, and then twpnty-four
" times; observing all thé usages that pertain to ablution, and
** which were ordained before the Kala tfiigaV^ (Here the Peni-
tent Vasishta describes the whole of those ceremonies with a mi-
nuteniess and an ipdecent plainness which we must not imitate.)

^< When ft wopian becomes pregnant, she must conform to all the
^^ rites that are usual on the occasion. She must shun the com-
" pany of wom^n of dubious virtue, and of those whose children
" have all died. jShe shall not ruminate on unpleasant thoughts j
^* nor look at frightful objects. She shall avoid tales of distress.

THE COKDUCT OF MARRIED WOMEN. j^

«< and abstain from food difficult to digest By adhering to these
" rules, she shall bring forth beauteous children ; but abortion
«^ will follow if she disobeys.

^^ A woman, when her husband is from home, should strictly con-
<^ form to his parting counsels. She must forsake all vain deco-
" ration, and must even refrain from rites which would at other
" times be grateful to the gods.

<* If a man keep two wives, the one shall in no wise intermeddle
<^ with the other, nor speak good or evil respecting her companion.
" She must not allude to the beauty or deformity of her children :
" but they ought both to live together in good accord, without a
^^ disobliging expression passing between them.

^^ When in the presence of her husband, a woman must not look
" on one side and the other. She must keep her eyes on her mas-
** ter to be ready to receive his commands. When he speaks she
<< must be quiet, and listen to nothing besides. When he calls
<< her, she must leave every thing else, and attend upon him
" alone.

^ When her husband sings, she must be in ecstasy. If he; dances,
<< she views him with delight. If he speaks of science, she is
^< filled with admiration. When in his presence, she must be
^^ always gay. There must be no gloom or discontent.

^< She ought above all things to shun domestic quarrels, whether on

<< account of her relations, or of any other woman that her hus*

. <^ band may keep, or on account of any unpleasant words that

" may arise. To leave her house for reasons such as these, would

<^ expose her to public derision, and give occasion for many evils.

^ Her husband may sometimes be- in a passion ; he may threaten
<< her; he may use imperious language; nay» he may unjustly beat
<< her. But, under no circumstances, shall she make any return
<< but meek and soothing words. Laying hold of his hands, she
<^ should entreat his. forgiveness. There shall be no exclamations ;
" no thoughts of deserting her home.

** But, to retort upon her husband;, to say to him, you fcave in-
^' suited me with rude language; you have beaten iQej I shall

H H • *

2^ RUIiES AND PRECEPTS FOR

<' speak to you no more ; I will look upon you as a &ther ; and
^ you may treat me as an elder sister ; I will meddle no more
^^ with your affairs, and do you let mine alone; I will have nothing
^^ more to do with you : such taunting discourse must never fidl
" from her lips.

<^ If her relations shall invite her to any festival, on occasion of a
" wedding, the ceremony of the Cord, or the like ; she shall not
* ^^ go without leave from her husband, or unaccompanied by some
^ elderly woman. She will be absent as short a time as possible ;
^^ and, on her return, she shall faithfully recount to her husband
<^ every thing she has seen, and cheerfidly retum to her domestic
«• labours.

<< When her husband is from home, she must sleep with one of h^
^^ relations, but never alone. She must of):en inquire afler his
^^ health. She must urge him to make a speedy retum ; and she
^^ will intercede for him with the gods.

<< Let all her words, her actions and her deportment give open
<< assurance that she views her husband as her god. Then shall
<< she be honoured of all men, and be praised as a discreet and
" virtuous wife.

^^ If her husband dies first, and she resolves to die with him ; —
^^ glorious and happy shall she be in that world into which he
<< has passed.
. «* But, whether she die the first, or survive her husband j a virtuous
" woman will assuredly enter into the enjoyment of every bless-
" ing in the world to come.

^^ A woman has no true enjoyment but through her husband. From
<^ him she derives children ; he provides her with fine apparel, de-
^^ corates her with jewels, supplies her with flowers, with sandal,
^^ saffiron and every thing her heart can desire.

^^ It is, moreover, by means of his wife, that a man enjoys all earthly
^^ happiness. This is the perpetual counsel of all our books of
^^ wisdom. It is by the aid of the wife that he performs his good
^^ works, that he acquires riches and honour; and under her
^ auspices all his measures are prosperous. A man without a
^ wife is an imperfect being."

THE CONDUCT OF MARRIED WOMEN. 235

These dogmas may appear to bear too heavily upon the females ;
yet are they kept up in full vigour to this day in many particulars.
Nay, in some tribes, they are still more severe. I might give an
example of this from some districts imder the Vaishnava Brahmans,
where the wife is not permitted to speak to her mother-in-law. When
any task is prescribed to her, she shews her acquiescence only by signs.
But it sometimes happens that, though deprived of the privilege of
words, they can make their gestures so expressive and significant as to
put the old woman in a rage.

It is said that the same practice of imposing silence on the young
women, in presence of a mother-in-law or a step-dame, is established
in Armenia : a contrivance well adapted for securing domestic tran?
quillity ; dearly purchased, however, by degrading the most useful and
interesting portion of the fair sex into the condition of slaves.

H H 2

( 236 )

CHAP. XXI.

OF THE CUSTOM OF WOMEN ALLOWING THEMSELVES TO BE BURNED WITH TUB

CORPSES OF THEIR HUSBANDS.

X HE ancient and barbarous custom which imposes it as a duty on
women to die voluntarily on the funeral pile of their husbands, although
stiU in force, is by no means so general or frequent as it was in former
times. It is also more rare in the peninsula than in the northern parts
of India ; where it is by no means uncommon, even in the present
times, to see women offering themselves up as the willing victims of
this horrid superstition, and devoting themselves, out of pride or
vanity, to this cruel death. It is confined to the countries under the
government of the idolatrous princes ; for the Muhammadan rulers do
not permit the barbarous practice in the provinces subject to them ;
and I am ^ persuaded the Europeans will not endure it where their
power extends.

As this awful rite was chiefly an appendage to. regal and princely
state, it has been considered as honourable in itself and as reflecting
additional lustre on the cast and family to which the magnanimous
victim belonged. In very old times it was considered an affront to the
memory of the deceased, and as an evid^it mark of the want of that
ardent devotion which a woman owes to her husband, when she shewed
any reluctance to accompany his body to the pile.

A few years ago, I myself was witness to the influence which these
false notions retain even in modem times. It was in the case of the
wife of the son of a Polygar, or Prince, of Kangendy , in the Camatic j
upon whom neither entreaties nor threats nor reproaches were spared, in
order to induce her to allow herself to be burned alive with the body of

WOMEN BURNED WITH THE CORPSES OP THEIR HUSBANDS. 28T

her deceased husband ; and, more especially, as she was of a &mily
celebrated for several generations, for heroic resolution in that splendid
devotion. The funeral was long delayed, in hopes that the woman
would at length resolve to prefer so glorious and honourable a death
to a remnant of life, to be dragged out in contempt and infamy^
But threats and entreaties, long continued as they were, had no in-
fluence upon her. She stubbornly resisted all the attacks of her re-
latives; and her husband was obliged to go unaccompanied to the
other world.

The wretched condition of widows, on one hand, and vanity on thé
other, inspiring the hope of renown, are the principal inducements
with those who embrace the dreadful proposal. And, certainly^ they
ate canonized after death; vows are paid to them, and recourse is had
to them in diseases and- other casualties of life, in the faith that a
miraculous deliverance will bé effected by their intercession. After the
fire has consumed her body, they collect the remnants of the bonesi
which have resisted the fire ; and erect over the spot little pyramids
or monuments, to transmit to posterity the memory of so illustrious a
victim of conjugal attachment. This distinction is the more striking
that a grave-stone is a thing almost unheard of in India. The
ceremony being over, the woman who has submitted to this glorious
death is considered in the light of a Deity. Crowds of votaries daily
frequent her shrine, imploring her protection, and praying for de-
liverance fi'om their evils.

To these inducements, which are sufficient in themselves to- make a
powerful impression on an enthusiastic and fanatical tnind, let us
add the solicitations of relatives; who if they 'observe the slightest
tendency in the widow to devote herself, never fail to prompt and
encourage her to come to a final determination. And to accelerate this
object, they sometimes ply her with drugs, which confuse the intellect^
and make her easily submit to any thing that is required of her.
Her relaticms are pleased with the result, well knowing that so splendid
a death will redoimd to the everlasting honour of their family. ^

; 3ome authoirs who have mentioned this inhuinan practice, have tak^
upon themselves to pronounce that it was introduced from a dread on

238 WOMBS BURNED WITH

the part of the husbands, that their discontented wives might seek occa«
sion secretly to procure their death. But I can assure my readers that,
after the perusal of the writings of native authors, and the long intercourse
I have had with many very enlightened individuals in the country, I
can find no ground whatever to justify such an insinuation. Indeed, it
must appear evident, £rom the nature of the thing, that a dying husband
can entertain no jealousy of his wife surviving him, inasmuch as she is
doomed, after his demise, to perpetual widowhood. The most discon*
tented of wives would have more to gain by submitting to the severest
husband, than she could expect by becoming à widow, at the expence
of such a crime, which coiild lead to no hope of improving her situation
by a new engagement

Nor, on the other hand, can we ascribe these voluntary deaths to
conjugal aftection, although it forms the most ostensible pretext, and al-*
though the lamentations and demonstrations of despair manifested by
the women, at the death of their husbands, might lead one to suppose that
it might really be the motive to such a sacrifice. But all their external
expressions of grief may be safely ranked under the head of grimace, of
which the Hindus, under all circumstances of life, are the most absolute
masters. During the long period of my observation of them and their
habits, I am not sure that I have ever seen two Hindu marriages that
closely united the hearts by a true and inviolable attachment

The Brahman women no longer continue the practice of burning
themselves alive with the bodies of their husbands. This custom is relin-
quishedto other casts, as well as many others which require the endur-
ance of bodily pain. That which we are speaking of is now almost
confined to the tribe of Rajas. But though the Brahmans have found
pretences for absolving their women firom this dreadful penalty, they
still continue to preside exclusively at such tragical proceedings, and to
direct the performance.

When a woman of any other cast than their own, declares, gravely
and deliberately, that she is desirous of being consumed alive by the
side of the dead body of her husband, the matter is conclusive. She
cannot aft;erwards draw back. Her revocation would be disregarded ;

THE CORPSES OF THEIR HUSBANDS. 239

and if she refused to go to the pile with good will, she would be car*
ried thither by force.

It is a prevailing superstition through all India that if a woman^ after
taking that resolution voluntarily, shall refuse to fulfil it, the whole coun-
try in which she lives shall be visited with some dreadful calamity. To
inspire her, therefore, with adequate courage, the Brahmans, and all her
kindred visit her in turn, complimenting her on her heroism, and the
immortal glory which she will derive from a mode of dying which must
exalt her in dignity to the gods. They excite her fanaticism by every
means which cruel superstition can suggest, and keep up the phren^r^
of her imagination, until the hour arrives when she is to be led to the
funeral pile.

Then is she bedecked with all her jewels, and dressed in her finest
apparel. Her brow is adorned with the sacred symbol of her cast Her
body is tinged with the yellow infusion of sandal and^ safiron. Every
thing is prepared. Her spirits are roused and kept up to the highest
pitch of exaltation that fanaticism and superstition can impart The
procession begins, and she is led to the pile on which she is soon to
expire.

* Before describing the rest of the ceremony, I ought to observe that,
in cases where a husband has several wives, which often happens in the
cast of Rajas, they dispute with each other for the honour of accompany-
ing their common husband to the pile, and to be burnt with him. The
Brahmans who preside at the ceremony determine which of them shall
have the preference. An instance of this kind I will here extract fi'om
the Bharata^ a work of great authority among the Hindus.

^^ Pandih the King, retired, with his two wives, into the forest, to pur-i
^^ sue a course of penitence. He had also entered into a solemn vow,
^ under the curse of instant death, that he should hold no comnierce
*^ with either of them. The youngest was extremely beautiful, and her
^^ charms were so powerful as to overcome the terrors of perdition. For
'^ a long time she resisted his solicitations, and reasoned with him on the
^< danger of yielding to them ; for she was unwilling to incur the imput-
^< ation of being the cause of his death* But all was in vain, her refiisal
^^ only serving to increase the violence of his passion. He was at length

S40

WOMEN BURKBD WITH

^ driven to the gratification of it ; and immediately the curse fell upon
" him with fiill eflfect

<< Being now dead, a questiqn arose^ which of the two wives ought to
<< follow him to the funeral pile ; and a sharp altercation took place be-
" tween them for the preference. An assembly of Brahmans was held to
^^ decide the dispute ; when the elder of the two wives insisted, that her
^^ rank, as his original consort, gave her a precedence above any posterior
^' one ; and farther observed that her competitor had several young chil-
^< dren, whose education absolutely required the prolongation of her life.

<< The second wife then addressed the assembly, admitting the supe^
<^ rior rank of her opponent, but insisting that, as she was the immediate
<< instrument of their husband's death, and the fatal cause which brought
^< down the malediction upon him, that she alone ought to endure its
^< consequences. ^ And, as to the*bringing up of the children,' quoth she,
^ turning tenderly towards her rival, ^ are they not yours as well as mine?
<< Besides, what sort of education could they expect from a young inex*
" perienced girl like me? Believe me it will better suit with your gravity
" and years.' "

In the Bharata, the debate is carried on to much greater length ; but
it will be sufficient to relate that, notwithstanding the eloquence of the
younger lady, the court gave the preference to the other, and " admit-
" ted her," says the author, " to the distinguished honour of being con-
«^ sumed alive with the body of her husband."

In some other casts of Hindus, where the custom of burial prevails^
instances have occurred of women being interred alive with their dead
husbands. The ceremonies are nearly the same in either case ; and in
the following detail of them I have it in my power to present a more
€xact and faithful picture than I have yet seen from any other hand.

The first instimce that fell under my observation was in the year
1794, in a village of Tahjore, called Podupettah. A man of some note
there, of the tribe of Komati or Merchants^ having died, his wife, then
about thirty years of age, resolved to accompany him to the pile^ to be
consumed together. The news having quickly spread around^ a large
^concourse of people collected firom all quarters to witness this extraordi-*
«ary spectacle. Wh^i she who occupied the .most conspicuous part had

THE C0tn%S'OV TBfiBt HOffiANDS. gj|f

got readji and" was decked out in the masiner* before dèscribfd^ beatisrs
aErriyed to bring away the corpse and the living victim. The body of the
deceased was placed upon- a sort of triumphal cais highly ornamented
with oostly stniSSs garlandsof flowers, and the like. There he was seat-
ed, like a living man, el^antly set out with all his jewels^ and dothed
in rich attire.

The corpse taking precedence, the wife immediately followed/ borne
on a rich palanquin. She was covered over with ornaments, in the
hi^est style of Indiim taste and magnificence. As the procession
moved, the surrounding multitude stretched out their hands to**
wards her in token of their admiration. They beheld her as al-
ready translated into the paradise of Vishnu, and seemed to envy her
happy lot.

Their process being very slow, the spectators, fMtrticularly therwomaoi»
went up to her in succession, • to wish her joy, and apparently desiring
to receive her blessing, or at least that she would pronounce over them
some pleasing word, and predict their future fortunes. She tried to
satisfy them all ; telling one that she would long continue to enjoy her
temporal felicity, and another that she would be the mother of many
beautiful children. She assured one that she was destined to live many
years in happiness with a husband that would doat upon her. The
next was informed that she would ^^soon arrive at great honour in the
world. These and equally gracious expressions she lavished upon aH
that approached her, and all departed with complete assuraftce of en«
joying the blessings which she promised them. She likewise distributed
amongst them some leaves of betel, which were eagerly accepted, as re^
Ucs5 or something of blessed influence.

During the whole procession, Hvhidi was very long, she preserved a
steady aspect Her countenance was serene and even cheerful, until
they came to the fatal pile, on which she was soon to yield up her life.
She then turned her eyes to the spot wfaare she was to undergo the
flames, and she became suddenly pensive. She no longw attended to
what was passing around her. Her looks were wildly fixed upoli the
pile. Her. features were altered; her faee grewpidei she trembled
with fear» )tmà iniEwcdkready to^femtaiway»

I I

24$ WOMBN 9URNBD WI|H

Hie firahinani f wlio directed the oeremony» md her relaUoiiSf p^s-
ceiving the swlden effect which the near approach of her £ite had oCo»?
sioned, ran to her amistancei and endeavoured to restore her spirita»
But her senses were bewildered ; she seemed unconscious of whi^ was
taid to her» and replied not a word to any one.

They made her quit the palanquin ; and her nearest relations sup-
ported her to a pond that was near the pile» and having there washed
her» without taking off h^ clothes or on^aments, they soon reconducted
her to the' pyramid on which the body of her husband was already laid^
It was surrounded by the BrahmanSf eadbt with a lighted torch in one
hand and a bowl of melted butter in the other, aU ready, as soon as the
innocent vtctiiori was placed on the pyramid, to envelope her in fire.

The relatives, all armed with muskets, sabres and other weapons,
stood closely round, in .a double line, and seemed to wait with impa-
tience for the awful signal.

This armed force, I under^x>od, was inteided to intimidate the un-
happy victim, in case the dreadM pr^mrations should incline her to
retract ; or to overawe any other persons who, out of false compassion,
should endeavour to rescue her* %

At length, the auspicious moment for firing the pile being announced
by the Purohita Brahman, the young widow was instantly divested of
all her jewels, and led on, more dead than alive, to the fatal pyramid.
She was then commanded, according to the universal practice, to walk
round it three times, two of her nearest relations supporting her by the
arms. The first round she accomplished with* tottering stqps ; but, in
the second, her strength wholly forsook her, and she fainted away in
the arms of her conductors ; who were obliged to complete the cere*
mony by dragging her between them for the third round. Then, sense-
less and unconscious, she was cast upon the carcase of her husband.
At that instant the multitude making the air resound with acclamations
and shouts of gladness, retired a short space, while the Brahmans,
pouring the butter on the dry wood, applied their torches; and instantly
the whole pile was in a blaze.

As soon as the flames had taken effect, the living sacrifice, now in
the midst of them, was invoked by name ûàm bU sides ; but, as insen*

■ ?■

THB CâBVSES OF TimiR HT7SBANDS. £43

iiSbfe Be the carcase on which she la/^ she made no answer* Sufibcatëd at
onee, most probably 5 by the fire, she lost her life without percei¥ing« it^

Hie other instance which I alluded to is of a more recent date, dt
was at the death of the late Raja of Tanjore in the year one thousand
<dght huniked. He left behind him four lawful wives, whom he had
espoused, agreeably to the Hindu custom, which tolerates in Princes
the abuse of polygamy. '

The Brahmans having decided that two of the wives should be
burnt with their husband, and having selected the devoted indiividuals
out of the four ; these received the information with much apparent
joy. It would no doubt have been a matter ^ everlasting shame to
themselves, and of the deepest ignominy to the manes of the deceased^
had they hesitated in their compliance. They had also reason to be-
lieve that means would be fallen upon to procure their assent, whether
voluntarily or not ; and therefore they made a virtue of necessity, and
put on the semblance of consenting with a good grace.

The brief account which I here prc^nt of this awful ceremony was
communicated to me by a person, of veracity to be completeb^ relied
on, who was sent on purpose to the place, to take an account of all the
circumstances. His detail extends to four and twenty pages of writing,
in which are included several particulars exactly resembling those de-
scribed in the preceding example, which therefore I will not repeat ;
nor shall I be tedious upon those that were different

One day only was required to make the necessary preparations for the
obsequies ; which were conducted in this manner*

In a field, three or four leagues from the royal residence, diey made
an excavation of no great depth, about twelve or fifteen feet square.
Within it they constructed a pyramid of the sweet smelling wood of
the sandal, the only species of timber used in this barbarous rite. On
the middle of the pyramid, a scaffold was erected to the elevation of a
few feet, constructed in such a manner as that the piops could be easUy
withdrawn ; by which means the structure would give way at once» On
the four ciomers of the platform large jars were placed, filled with melted
butter, to smear the pyramid^ that it «light be the more easily set on fire.

II 2

344 WOBiEN BURNED WITH

This was the order of the procession. It was headed by a great number
of soldiers under arips. They were followed by a multitude of musicians»
chiefly trumpeters, who made the air re-echo to their melancholy
sounds. Next came the body of the king, upon a splendid palanquin
richly decorated. This was surrounded by the nearest relations and by
thé Guru of the deceased. They were all on. foot, and without their
turbans, in. token of mourning. A large party of Brahmans formed
round them, as an immediate escort The two wives, who were to be
burned with the corpse of the King, came next, each borne on a pa-
lanquin quite open. They presecved, during the journey, a calm : ap-
pearance and a cheerful air« The escort of troops kept off the immense
crowds who were assembled from all quarters, some from' motives of
interest and others out of curiosity. '

The two queens. were attended by some of their favourite women,
with whopa they occasion^ly conversed. They were loaded, rather
than decorated, with jewels ; which were not stripped from them, as
commonly happens to women of ordinary rank,» when they ascend the
pile. .They were accompanied* by their relatives of both sexes, to
maQy of whom they had made presents before leaving the palace.
Thousands of Brahmans, collected from all parts, made up the rest of
their retinue ; and an innumerable multitude of persons of all ranks
followed in the rear.

When they arrived at the ground where the sacrifice was to take
place, the two victims were made to descend from their palanquins,
|br the purpose of purification and of performing the other pr^aratory
ceremonies. They went through the whole, without hesitation, and
^ithoutjshewing the least embarrassment ; but, towards the close, their
countenances began to betray them, and the three circuits round the
pile were not accomplished without considerable efforts to sustain their
equanimity.

.During this interval, the body of the King had been deposited on the
scaffold .over the platform. The two Queens were also laid down be-
side the corpse,, one on the right hand and the other on the. left ; and
they joined hands by stretching them oyer the ^ body. The astrologer
or Purohita having then declared that the, happy instant was come for

TH£ GORPSBS OF TUfilR HUSBANDS. ^5

finishingthe ceremony» the Brahmans redted several Mantras in aloud
voice, and consecrated the pile by sprinkling it with their tirtham or holy
water. These brief ceremonies were hardly over, when, on a signal
given, the pillars, which supported the pyramid and the scaffold, were
suddenly withdrawn, and the women were instantly overwhelmed by
the falling mass of timber, which tumbled over them with a crash. : At
the; same instant the whole edifice was kindled in all its, parts. .Qn
one aide the nearest of kin to the King applied his torch, and opposite
to him the Guru; while the Brahmans in every quarter were pouring
jars of melted abutter on the flames, creating so intense a heat as mi|st
have instantly consumed the victims. Then the multitude shouted
for joy; and the kindred, approaching the pile, also set up a loud
cry, calling upon them by their names. They fancied they heard
a voice in answer pronouncing Enn ? What f But the fall of ^the plat-
form and the immediate bursting out of the flames must have stifled
them at once.

. Such was the miserable end of those unhappy victims of a cruel and
barbarous superstition; and such are the ceremcmies with which it is
accompanied, varying in different districts, but fundamentally the
same.

Two days afler, when the fire was completely extinguished, they dug.
out from amongst the ashes some portions of the bones which were not
wholly consumed, and inclosed them in urns of red copper, which were
sealed with the signet of the new King. Soon afi;erwards, thirty of the
JBrahmans, set out with them for Kad or Benares, to cast them into the
holy waters of the Ganges. The reward which was to be paid to theçn,
upon depositing the relics at Kasi, was previously agreed upon, and
was paid them when they returned with certificates from that holy city.

A small portion of these bone-ashes was pounded and swallowed by
twelve Brahmans, who mixed it as an ingredient with some other food. This
act, so revolting to our nature, was beliçved to be expiatory of the sins
of the three parties deceased. But, as it is understood that this can be
(^ected only by tranferring those sins into the bodies of the Brahmans,
the lucre which they derive from so unnaturd an act is not believed to
be attended with much ultimate advantage to the^l•

246 WOlliBN BURIŒD WITH

Itiere were also found among the ashes some small pieces of golcU
formed, no doubt, from the trinkets of the queens, which the violence
of the heat had fused.

It then Incarne a question what recompence the Brahmans should
share who had borne a part in the obsequies, or had honoured them
with their presence. The King's Guru received a present of an ele-
phant. The three palanquins, which had served to transport the corpse
and the two Queens to the pile, were allotted to the three principal
Brahmans. Amongst the rest a distribution was made, in cloth and
. monej, to the amount of about twenty-five thousand rupees, besides
several bags of small coin scattered among the crowd, in the course of
the procession. Finally, twelve houses were built, which were given to
the twelve Brahmans who had the courage to swdlow the pounded
bones of the deceased, and by that means to take upon themselves all

their sins.

Some days afler the funeral, the new King made a pilgrimage to E
temple a few leagues distant from his capital. Afler bathing in a pri-
vileged pond in its neighbourhood, and being here thoroughly cleansed
firom all the impurities contracted during the previous ceremonies of
the mourning, he made some further presents to the Brahmans and to
^Ibe pbor of the other casts.

On the spot where the funeral pile was erected, on which the King
and his two unhappy Queens were consumed, a round mausoleum has
been built, about twelve feet in diameter, terminating in a dome. Here
the present Prince generally stops, when he happens to go out in that
direction, and prostrates himself before the tombs of his predecessors.

A great number of votaries of all casts continually repair thither to
offer their vdws to these new divinities, imploring their help and pro-
tection in all the vicissitudes of life. When I was last there, in 1802,
a great variety of pretended miracles were current, as having beei>
performed by their intercession.

India is not the only nation in which the abominable practice of sa-
crificing the wife on the pile of her husband has been adopted. Ancient
autibors speak of it as not unknown in early times amongst other civi-

THE CORPSES OF THEIR HUSBANDS. £47

lized nations. Herodotus^ in particular % speaking of the Crestonaeans,
asserts that the women dispute with each other for the honour of dying
with their husband. She who was esteemed to have been his favourite»
had the preference, and was slain on his tomb. The rest, to whom this
honour was refused and who were only permitted to be present at the
ceremony, returned from it abashed and in confusion. The Indians,
however, seem to be the only people in the universe who keep up the
abonpnable custom to the present day.

* Terpsichore.

( 248 )

CHAP. XXII.

Of ADOPTION AMONG THE BRAHMANS AND OTH£E HINDUS.

W H£N a Brahman finds himself without mde issue, whether from
the barrenness of his wife or the premature death of the children she
may have brought him, he is empowered, nay required, to procure a
son by means of adoption, in order to fulfil the obligation which they
believe all men to be under, of providing for the succession of society.
Besides, as the perfect state of a Brahman consists in being married, he
falls short of that perfection when he is without ofispring, particularly
males, to perform his obsequies. This defect alone is supposed to exclude
him from a blessed world afier his death.

These notions prevail so strongly among the Hindus, that I have
known women not only consenting to their husband taking another
wife, but finding him one, when they happened to have daughters only.
Yet they could not but foresee the great inconvenience that would re-
sult to themselves from the introduction of another wife, who being
young and likely to bring male children to her husband, would natu«
rally presume on these claims of superiority over the lawful wife.

We have before remarked, that polygamy was an abuse not publicly
tolerated and admitted, excepting in favour of the Princes, to whom the
Brahmans granted the indulgence of marrying as many as five wives in
the accustomed way of matrimony. But when persons of ordinary sta-
tion appear to have other wives besides the legitimate one, it may be
inferred that they are merely hired concubines, or wives intended to
supply the sterility of the real one. And even, in this last case, the
domestic troubles which almost universally spring fi:om it, give a gene-
ral preference to the practice of adoption.

ADOPTION. 349

The Brahman» who is destitute of male issue, look» out amongst his
nearest relations» such as his brothers, or uncles, for a youth whom he
may adopt. If he cannot find one in that class of relatives, he goes to
his wife's kindred. He may even adopt the children of his own daugh-
ter. Those who have several male children very willingly part with
one of them to a rdiation who has none, particularly if he be rich y by
which means the property is retained in the family. But if he does not
find a proper young man, among his own relations or those of his wife,
he has recourse to some poor Brahman, overloaded with children ; and,
if he be in tolerable affluence himself, he is not likely to meet with
much repugnance in such a quarter. The fiindaiïïènt{il rules of adop-
tion are the following : -

' The adopted son wholly renounces all claim on the property of his
natural father, and acquires an unlimited right of succession to all that
belongs to his adopted father.. Ffom him he is entitled to maintenance
and education, as if he were his own son ; and to receive, through his
means, the advantages of the Triple Cord, and of being settled in mar-
riage. Thé ad^ted son is obliged, on his part, to take care of his
acquired parents in their old age, and attend to their funeral when they
die. Afi;erwàrds he enters into possession . of their property ; enjoys
whatever is of value, and is obliged to pay the debts.
' He farther enters into the Gotra or line^e of him by whom he is
acbpted ; and is considered as descended firom the same ancient stock.
' When the ceremonies of adoption commence, the new parent» per-
form one which is held to be the most important and essential of any,
by: tying round the loins of the youth that little âtring which every male
child in India is ceremoniously invested with at the age of two or three
years, and which serves to fix the bit of cloth that is always used to
cover those parts of the body. If the ceremony has been previously
performed by the natural parents, the adopted ones bireak the cord, in
token of dissolving the Gotra from which the child descended; and
put ori a new one, as the sign of hifl being cdled to theirs.

On this, as on all other solemn occasions, their first care is to seleot
an auspicious day, and the fortunate moment of the day, by help of the
rules of their, astrology.

K K

350

ADOPTION.

It is unnecessary to enter at large into the remaining ceremonies, as
they closely resemble what are used in other solemnities. The Pandd
or artificial bower over the door, or in the court before the house, is not
omitted. The Toranam^ of which it is chiefly composed, are easily
adapted to that or any other situation, being merely lines stretched in
proper directions, thickly strung with mango leaves. When a prince
or the governor of a province is expected to pass through a town or viU
lage the streets are decorated in this manner, as if with triumphal arches ;
and, simple as the contrivance is, the effect is exceeding beautifuL

Within the house, or under this pandal, the whole relations and
friends assemble. Hie Purohita commences the ceremonies by offer*
ings or sacrifice to the patron god of the house, and to the iSfod of
vbetacles. He then produces the holy water, of which the adopted son
takes a little in the hollow of his hand and drinks it. Some is 8prin<*
kled about the house and the pandal, and over those who are present ;
and the rest is poured bade into the welL

The sacrifice of the Homani^ which foUows, is made here with some
variation, being offered to the nine planets^ which the Purohita, by vir-
tue of his evocatory mantras, compels to attend at the ceremony. An
offering is also made to them of two measures of rice, in a raw state,
which are divided into nine portions. As many Brahmans, chosen for
the purpose, perform the Homam, with sweet-scented wood ; and, after
invoking the Goà of Fire, spreading the rice and sprinkling the liquid
butter, they make him a profound obeisance with closed hands, and retire.

The sacrifice being over, the adopting father and mother sit down on
a little stool placed under the alcove ; when the natural mother of the
child, after receiving a hundred or perhaps five hundred small pieces of
tnoney and a new garment, as her wages for nursings approaches the
adopter, who asks her with a loud voice in presence of all the assembly,
whether she delivers him her child to be brought up : to which she
answers, I do deliver him to you to bring up. This phrase is held
distinctly to import, that she gives up her son, not as a slave who is sold^
but to be reared as a child of the family.

This ceremony applies more particularly to the mother than to the
father, as children among the Hindus until grown up are always con*

il^lsred to beloi^ to her ; and if, % any reason, she parts from her '
Iwil||||nd, she always takes the chil^^n away as her own. For this
reas<H% the delivering over of the <%ildt in adoption, belongs to its
mothet^ while the reception of it a|^rtains, with equal propriety, to
the adop%ç &ther.

A dish ik then brought in, filled witH water, macie yellow by the in-
fusion of saffi^ It is consecrated widk mantms by the Furohita ; and
the mother takinkthe di^h, delivers it to the adopter, and at the sam«
time invoking the i|[e to beiu: witness, jihe thrice repeats these words :
^ I give thee this ch9i^ I have a right to him no more/' The adopter
takes the child, and seating him on his knee, he addresses the relations
present, saymg; ^^ This child hm been giveii me, and the fire adjured as a
*^ witness of it ; and I^ having drank of the safinm-^water, promise to
^^ rear him as my own son^ He «nters into all that belongs to me ; my
« property and my debts*'*

Then he and his w^e, pouring a little aafirQQtwater into the hoUow of
their hands, and dropping a little h^ that of the adoptive child, pro-»
nounce sloud before the assembly: ^^ We have acquired this child to
^ our stem, and we incorporate him with it." Upon which they dritfk
d.e «ffion-wate,. which Zy hold in their h««U, ^d. ri«„g «^ nuJ»
a profound obeisance to the assembly ; to which the officiating Brahmans
reply by the word ^n/Todam.

It is unnecessary to add that the ceremony is terminated by a repast
given to the Brahmans, for which they prepare by bathing ; and that tbâ'
whole concludes with the dist^bution of betel and pieces of money : for
this is the termination of all their festivals. .

The circumstance of using saffron-water in this ceremony has given
rise to a common appellation for adopted children, who are ofi;en called
the water-of^affron children of such a one, withoirt meaning it as a term
of ridicule or reproach. In this it difiers firpm the nicknames firequently
bestowed on individuals there, the most of which are taken firom some
odd particulars in their lives, and ofi;en fix>m some mental Qr bodily
defect.

\ The Sudras add one peculiarity to the ceremcmy, the adopting
father and mother pouring on the feet of the .child the watM* firom the

K K 2

25j|^ ADOPTION.

pitcher, * whicKthey hold in one hand ; and, catching it with the other
hand, and drinking it In other respects they follow the same customs
as the Brahmans, but they abridge them.

It is not always upon young children that the rite of adoption is per-
formed. Great lads sometimes receive it also, when it suits the interest
of their families.

. Adoption admits of being effected, in a simpler way, and one better
accommodated to the circumstances of people in the humbler situations
of life. She who surrenders the child, and he who accepts it, db it in
presence of the fire ; which they appeal to as being witness to the
adoption ; and this suffices to render it valid and legal.

Those who inhabit the banks of the Ganges, may perform the act of
reddition and acceptance, by taking the river to witness the mutual
agreement; and this stands in the place of other ceremonies. '

Another species of adoption arises from the wayward circumstances
of some of the poorer and meaner Brahmans ; who, finding it difficult
to support the cost of the ceremony of the Cord and other rites, are
reduced to make over the whole or. part of their children to richer
Brahmans, who take charge of them ; and by this act alone the chil-
dren are incorporated into the Gotra and considered as adopted.

The same thing likewise takes place in respect to marriage. A father
and mother, unable to support the expence of the ceremonies, give up
their son to a man who has girls only. He accepts of him, and gives
him' one of his daughters for a wife. By thid process he is considered
as adopted into the family, and enters accordingly into all its privileges
and obligations.

Buit in whatever way adoption -is consummated, the adopted child
loses all right' to the property of his natural parents,^ and is not at all
answerable for the debts they may leave behind them.

>The adoption of girls is rare, though not without example.

In the account I have. given of the ceremonies used in Adoption, as
well as ip the preceding ones of Mart* iage and the Triple Cord, I have
been guided by the Directory or Ritual of the Purohitas. That book
also jsolves some difficulties respecting the division of the effects ; of
which we shall now treat.

{ 258 )

CHAP. XXIII.

PARTITION OF PROPERTY IN CERTAIN CASES.

XN the Ritual above mentioned, the case is put of a man i^ho,
adopting: a son^ unexpectedly has six children by his wife; four boys
and two girls. Two of the boys die, while one of the daughters iand
the adopted son are severally married, There remain, in a single stieite,
two boys aiid one girl ; and provision must also be made for the sub-
sistence of the mother. 1 The question is, how the effects of the de^
ceased ought to be divided. ' - - . . ' .;./

: The answer given, is to the following effect. First, there must be
a sum set apart, sufficient for the expence of the funeral rites of ^ the
deceased, to be performed in a decent and creditable way ; and also for
the marriage of the three children who are not yet eétàblished. The
sum required for this purpose must be deposited in safe handà.

Secondly. What remains must, be divided into six portions aiijd a
half ^ The adopted son takes one portion, with a quatter of the half
shares ; The eldest brother takes as much ; afler which the remainder
shall be divided in equal parts amongst the other brothers and the
mother. ./ rr.vjf

^ If the mother were dead, thé division would be into five parts aiid;ft
half; unless all the brothers should agree to provide their unmarried
sister with trinkets* out of the share which would have^len to the
mother.^ If she, at her death, chuses to leave <her part of the succesr
sion to her daughters, their brothers cannot oppose it. If she does not,;
the brothers -will divide atnongst ^themselves whatever remaina of Jier
property, aftCT the charge of her burial.

254

PARTITION OF PROPERTY.

This décision» laid down by the Brahmans, appears to vary from the
general custom of the Hindus ; by which, in the division of the pater-
nal property» no more is allowed to the elder brothers than to the
younger. The mothers, on the other hand» have no share whatever
of the property^ of their husbands» the children being strictly bound to
provide for them during their lives.

It may happen that a man who lias no children» by reason of the
barrenness of his wife» may take another to remedy this defect^ If the
latter should have à son» the father's estate would descend to him ex-
clusively» and the lawM wife would have nothing whatever at the
death of her husbtad, were the son not obliged to provide fiir her dùi^
ing her life. If the great xvife^ as the first is called» doea not chiftse
to live with \he little one^ the relations are called in» and a provision is
assigned her adequate to her wants.

A rich man» whose wife was unfiriiitful» being desirous to have pro^
geny» took a second. For the same reason he married a third. Hie
whole proved barren» so that he died without leaving issue. He had
an elder brother» and also a younger» as well as several cousins» the sons
of his paternal uncles. None of these» however» had been living with
him» having long before received their portions» and each maintaining
ft separate establishment The question to be determined was» Who is
the true heir of the deceased ?

The answer given is» that the true heir is the younger brother. As
the youngest» the duty of conducting the funeral falls upon him, by the
usage of the country ; and he who performs the obsequies is held in
ftU cases to be the successor of him to whom he renders those ho-^
nours. In becoming the principal at the interment» he also becomes the
head and master of thé house. He will therefore take on himself the
;maintenance of the three wives left by his deceased brother ; and if any
of them should wish to return to her relations» she will be free to do so^
and to take with her the jewels which she had received from her hus-
band« Besides this» an assembly of the relations will determine upon
the allowance which her brother-in-law» the heir to her husband,
shall be bound to afford her. If she incline to remain in the

PARTITION OF PROP^TY, j||5^

house that was her husband's, and to have an establishmeat th^Çt

■

apart, she will be indulged in her wish ; and in that case her brother
in-law would not be under the necessity of assigning to her ai|y
bM»iderable income* She would make it up by b^ging ahns; a
^^roiession not disgraceful in such a case, being one of the six pri-i
vSN^ges <£ her cast

The l>rQâier**in-law is also obliged to bear the expence of the
funerals of ^âbe three widows, if they die before him.

If there were lio Junior brother, it would be the elder alone who
would have every n^lH^centred in him, whether regarding the obsequies
or the succession ; and ài 4ifiHilt of both, they will pass to the nearest
relation on the father's side.

The book from which I have quoted ^cbes not enter more deeply into
the division of property in difficult cases. The relatives assembled
decide any dispute, according to the rules of the txméxy or the cast,
and more frequently still according to the wealth and generosity of liim
who best rewards them for a favourable decision. Thiq, of course,
Jfiads in such pc^ular courts, to innumerable, intrigues, luid pervœ-^
stons of justice.

From what has been remarked, itwill be seen that the right of succession
and that of performing the obsequies are inseparable. When a rich mui
dies, without issue, or other direct descendants, a crowd of remote re-
lations appear, who dispute with each other the privilegeof conductingthe
obsequies. The contest is oflen prolonged till the corpse becomes putrid
la the house. But the case is very different when a poor man dies
under the like circumstances. Nobody contends for the right of dis^^-
posing of his body. On the contrary, all his relations keep alopf ;
knowing that he who took charge of his funeral would also have the
biurden of his debts.

There is still another rule respecting succession among the Hmdus
that difiers wholly from ours, and which would appear to us somewhat
icreconcileable with the principles o{ public justice, which ought to be
^served in all civilized nations.

A father dies, leaving several maje children, who, from negligence
or perhaps unwillingness to separate, or jQrom his having lefl nothing.

256 PARTITION OP PROPBRTY.

have none of his property to divide. Some of them, by industryt
application and ^ economy, acquire considerable wealth, while the rest
becoming' vagabonds, thoughtless and dissolute; sink into difficulties
amd debt. After scouring the country for many years, these probably
discover that- some of their brothers, by industry and good conduct,
have acquired some degree of opulence; and from them they con-
fidently claim an equal share of what has been acquired by the sweat
of their brows, and devolve upon them a proportion of the debts which
they themselves have contracted by debauchery and misconduct If
this be refused; the creditors come forward, and, by the process of
law, compel the industrious part of- the family to make good the waste
of the prodigals.

If brothers, for the reasons we have alluded to, or any other, neglect
to make a partition of property ; when they die, the community of
effects and debts attaches to their children : and, if these are equally
n^Ugent it descends to their posterity.

»' Accordingly, it is by no means rare to see cousins of the fourth or
fiflh degree, engaged in law-suits concerning the division of goods,
founded on the right thus transmitted from their great grandfathers*
It is not difficult to imagine, that, under such circumstances, the
thriving, part of a family are frequently molested by their poorer
relations ; or that, in a country where there is no public system of law,
and where custom, as various as the tribes, regulates every thing, there
should be abundance of litigation and chicanery.

• There is one advantage however, arising from this singular custom,
which in some measure compensates for its bad effects ; namely, that
it gives brothers and other relations who are liable to be affected by the
law of partition, the right to watch over the conduct of each other, and
to restrain the debauchery and extravagance of those whose mis-
conduct might involve them all in distress.

' In no case, have daughters a title to share in their fathers' property*
When a man dies, leaving girls only, they are entirely excluded from
the inheritance ; and all the effects of the deceased pass to his nearest
male relations. They are obliged, no doubt, to rear and maintain the
•' • ' ' ' II -

PARTITION OP PROPERTY. 25T

young women, and to dispose of them in marriage when grown up.
But this last is no burden, as they receive money on such occasion85
instead of paying any. A contract of marriage in India can be only
considered as a bargain and sale, by which a father or any other owner
of a girl disposes of her at a certain price, to any person who is willing
to buy a wife.

1 .

I.L

( 2^ )

CHAP. XXIV.

OF THE LITERATURE OF THE BRAHMANS AND PARTICULARLY THEIR POETRY.

IT is not to be doubted that from the earliest times the sciences have
been cultivated by the Hindus, or rather by the Brahmans, who have
been in all ages, as it were, the depositaries of them. They have always
considered them as a property exclusively their own ; and perceiving
the ascendant which their learning gave them over the other casts, and
the reputation which it acquired them, they have always made a
mystery of it to the vulgar, and taken the greatest pains, to prevent its
spreading among other classes of men.

But, have they themselves cultivated the sciences with success, or

have they made any advancement in them ? This we must answer in

the negative, if we judge from the scientific remains of their ancient

authors, compared with their present literary men. I do not believe

that the modem Brahmans have made the smallest progress in any

branch of learning which they cultivate, beyond their ancestors of the

era of Pythagoras and Lycurgus. That long space of time, between

epochs so remote, during which so many barbarous races have emerged

from the darkness of ignorance to the brightest splendour of civilization,

and have extended their intellectual researches beyond the natural sphere

of the human mind, has been employed to no purpose by the Hindus*

They have continued on the very spot where they stood more than two

thousand years ago. During that period half the world has become

enlightened j but, amongst the Hindus, one can trace no improvement

in the sciences or arts ; and the most partial observer must admit that

they are now far behind many communities who were not so soon in-

3cribed in the roll of cultivated nations.

LITERATURE.

259

The sciences which rendered than most famous amongst external
nations, in times of superstition and ignorance^ and which conciliated
at the same time the awe and reverence of their own countrymen,
were Astronomy, Astrology, and Magic The first shall be con-
sidered hereafter* The other two have been discussed in a treatise by
the late P. Pons, missionary in the Camatic, published in the Memoirs
of the Academy of Sciences, and copied by the Abbé Lambert into
his General History of All People. The treatise of Mr. Pons is literaUy
copied into either work. I see nothing that can be added to what
he has written on these subjects, and there is but little to correct, if
we except his high strained eulogiums on the academies of India.

The truth is, no comparison can be drawn between the schools
of science in that country and those established in Europe. All that
can be pretended is that in some large towns, or in the precincts 6f
some large temples of their idols, certain Brahmans, learned or
affecting to be so, teach gratuitously what they themselves know to
such as are willing to take lessons from them ; whilb some others do so
with more attention to their own interest. But the whole is carried on
without method, without any place for study, without discipline. He
may learn who has a mind, and as long as ever he chuses ; but there is
nothing in their institution's which can excite the student to emulation,
or encourage the teacher; no examinations' to undergo, no placés to gain,
no premiums to contend for, no privilege held out to those that excel.
The reputation of wisdom, to be sure, draws reverence from all the
world ; but this is not a motive sufficiently powerful to stimulate the
Brahmans. It would be necessary that they should taste more fre-
quently than they do of the liberality of their Princes. But these
great men are too much lulled by pleasures, and too deeply immersed
in ignorance to be able to appreciate the value of science, or to feel
the least impulse of generosity towards those who cultivate it.

So much, then, for the course of study, the universities and the literati
of India.

The works to which I have referred the reader, being scarcely accessible
to those for whom I have designed this account, I had resolved to give at
least a summary of the Hindu astronomy. But having met with what

LL 2

260 pot:try.

the AwUtc Society of Calcutta had inserted on that âubject in their in-
teresting Researches^ and also what the French have communicated ia
the works already cited, I have thought fit to drop that intention, and
to confine myself to another branch of science which has been but
briefly handled by other^. I mean the Hindu poetry. Having acquired
some knowledge of it, and feeling it to be a subject likely to interest
most readers, I will enlarge a little on this point.; and those who find
xne tedious will lay the book aside. ^

On the Poetry of the Hindw.

I suppose there is no country on earth where Poetry was more in
rogue ^<m it was i. former time, in India. It seemed impossible for
them to write but in verse. They have not a single ancient book that
is written in prose ; not even the books on medicine, which are said to
be numerous in the Sanscrit tongue. All Hindu books that are not in
verse are modern.*^ The translators of the eighteen Puranas from the
original Sanscrit into the other idioms of India, have* all written iq
verse. At least I know it is so in the Tamul tongue, the Talagu and
Canara ; and I have no doubt it is the same in the other dialects of the
country.

The Tamul Poetry has been chiefly cultivated by the Sudras, who,
by labouring to preserve the turn of the Sanscrit Poetry, have so mul-
tiplied the rules of their rhyme that it is very difiicult to make cor-
rect verses in their language.

The Poetry in the Talagu and Canara has been principally cultivated
by the Brahmans ; and it has such a resemblance to the Sanscrit, even
in prosody, that I do not believe the Sudras had meddled in these
two dialects. Of the Sanscrit poetry itself I shall endeavour to give
some idea, such as may apply generally to the various sorts, as they
exist in the several idioms of India.

I shall consider, 1. The various Species of their Poesy. 2. The long
and short Letters. 3. The small Feet of the measure. 4. The large Feet.
5p The Ehyme. 6. The Versification. 7. The style or taste of Hindu
Poetry. But, having no intention to compile a Hindu Prosody, which

fOETRY, ggj

would be little amusing to my readers, I shall say but a few words on
each of those heads, and merely what may be necessary to give a gene*
ral view of the subject.

1. The different Species of Poesy.

Hiere are five sorts ; namely, Padam^ Padyam^ Dmpada^ Dandakuj
Yakshakanam. Another kind has been specified under the name of
Padyay but as it is not composed of feet, we do not include it with the
others.

Under the head of Padam^ they comprehend the odes in honour of
their Princes and other great men; songs of gallantry and lewdness;
libertine addresses to the gods and goddesses ; lines composed by adu^
lators in honour of those whom they wish to flatter, or upon more or-
dinary occasions. This spedes of, Poetry is likewise called Sringaram
or omamentedj because it is oflen the vehicle of eulogiums on women,
and the ornaments they wear on various parts of their dress.
. Amorous songs are likewise denominated Sittimbam or the Joy of
Pleasure; a name no doubt derived from the licentious. Of this sort
there is an infinite variety. They are chanted by beggars when they
carol from door to door for alms. The more indecent and gross the
allusions, the dissolute audience are the better pleased.

The hymns in honour of the gods are also called Kirtana or Praise^
being intended to glorify the divinities of the land.

The word Pddam is likewise used for the strophe of a poem.

The second species of Poesy, called Padyam comprises the great
poems, composed' in honour of the gods, the kings, and other mighty
personages. This kind is formed of several stanzas, like the Jerusalem
Delivered of Tasso ; but they are not uniformly constructed. There
are at least thirty sorts, which may be successively used or intermixed
at pleasure. in the course of the poem.

The Padamf or Stanzasj are also employed on subjects of morality
and satire. ..-Hie Poet ¥emana« who wrote in Talafiru* and Tiruvaluvo

^Q POETRY,

who wrote m Tamuls have distinguished themselves in this measure, tQ
which we shall afterwards return.

The species called Dwipada^ or two-footed^ is much less rigproijw
than the other kinds, and is indeed merely a measured prose, written
in poetic fashion. It has been employed by the authors of little his-
tories, or local exploits, whether true or imaginary.

From these three examples, the other sorts belonging to this class
may be imagined, without farther illustration.

2. The long and short Letters.

The Hindu verses, like the Latin and Greek, are composed of short
and long syllables. From these simple feet, are formed hemistichs ;
by combining which, the full verses are evolved.

I have mentioned that the shor^ feet were composed of Lettersj be-
cause in the Indian languages Letters are actually Syllables. Every
consonant carrying its vowel along with it, they pronounce Ba, Be, Bi,
&c Da, De, Di, &c but never B, D, mute, or separate from a vowel.
Even a double syllable such as Bra, Dla, Ksha, Rma, &c. in many
dialects, is considered as making but one letter.

Of the Letters some are short and called Laghuva Akshara. The
others are long, and called Guru Akshara^ alluding no doubt to the
slow and solemn gait of a Hindu Guru. Even in familiar writing,
they seldom fail to . distinguish the long and short letters with their
particular marks. It is still more regularly attended to in pronun-
ciation ; and, in verse, it is quite indispensable.

In Hindu Poetry, as well as in Latin, a long letter is equivalent to
two short, and two long to four short. Thus the word Màtà is equal
in quantity to Kàlàgàdû^ composed of four shorts. But there are let-
ters which, though short in writing and inordinary discourse, become
long in verse, by position. Thus the A which begins the word Akcha^
ram though short in general, becomes long in versification, as being
placed before two consonants K and Cha. In the same manner the
letter Ka^ though naturally short, is long, in verse, in such a word as
Karmany on account of the two consonants which follow it Two ex-

POETRY. QQS

amples of this occurring to me from Virgil, in the lines, " Brontesque^
" Steropesque et nudus membra Pyracmotij^ and — " date tela^ scandite
" muros r I expressed my doubt one day to a Brahman, who was ex-
plaining to me the rules of Poetry. His vanity and self-conceit had
been already a little humbled by finding that a foreigner could so
easily comprehend matters which he thought quite sublime ; but when
I started my difficulty, he stood fixed for a while in astonishment, and
stared me in the face without speaking. At length he answered, " You
*^ are right ; but I am astonished how such a thought could have en-
" tered into your mind, knowing so little as yet of our Poetry." I
told him that the Poetry of my own country bore some resemblance to
that of his, and that my acquaintance with the former led me to the
observation I had made. These words served to increase his astonish-
ment, as he had always supposed, till then, that no creatures on earth
knew any thing of Poetry but the Brahmans. This prejudice made me
easily pass with him for a man of wonderful penetration. This at least
I gained by it, that he became more diffident in our future intercourse.

The last letter of a verse may be of any quantity, at pleasure ; but
the distinction must always be marked in pronunciation. The Latins
took the same licence ; and it is likely that Horace, when he said ^^ Sic
" te Diva potens Cyprij^ pronounced the last syllable short, and in the
verse " Amice propugnaculaj^ long ; because in the one the last foot is
a dactyl, and in the other an iambus.

As, in an idolatrous nation, every thing tends to superstition, the
poets of India hold some letters to be amritam, or ambrosial^ and
others to be Visham^ or poisonous. The one are of good omen, and the
other mischievous. This distinction is not regarded in poetry relating
to the gods, who are supposed incapable of being afiected by the good
or evil qualities of letters ; but, in verses which concern human beings,
the case is very different, and particular care must be taken never to
begin any thing, addressed to them, with a visham, or imlucky letter.
The letter which has the sound of Ke^ and that which sounds Ki are of
that quality in some idioms, because their form in writing is such that
the point turns down towards the ground. The JTo, on the contrary, is
fortunate, because the point of that letter turns up on higlu

•gg4 K)ETRY.

3. The mall Feet in Verse.

There are two kinds of feet in verse, the small and the large ; the
latter being composed of the former. The small feet have the name of
Gananij of which there are two kinds, the simple Ganam and the Upaga^
nam. The first are eight in number and are expressed by the technical
word Mabajasanarayalaj viz. 1. Maganam; 2. Baganam; 3. laganam;
4. Saganam; 5. Naganam; 6. Raganam; 7. Yaganam; 8. Laganam.
The first consists of three longs ; the second of a long and two shorts.
The marks by which they are represented are :

III lUU UIU UUi UUU lUl Ull iiu

There are also eight Upaganams expressed in the word Garahanaga^
manala: the Gaganam9.wh\ch is composed of two longs, like our spondee;
the Haganam, composed of a long and a short, as the trochee ; the
Yaganam^ of a short and a long, or iambus ; the Nalam^ of four shorts ;
the Galam^ two shorts ; the MalagUj three longs and one short ; the
Nagam^ three shorts and a long ; the Latam^ two longs and two shorts»
These difierent Upaganams are represented by the following marks :

II Ul lU %J KJ U V KJ K} IMU UUUI IJUU

The Hindu poets discover a certain relation between the Ganam and
the Upaganam ; one or the other causing good or evil, according to the
god who presides over it Those that fall under the rule of the Môor„
which is, in India, the emblem of cold, are deemed favourable ; while
those, on the contrary, which are governed by the Sun, are injurious»
Agreeably to this superstition, a copy of verses must not begin with a
malign Ganam. The Hindu prosodies are very diffuse on this subject.

4. The long Feet.

The Ganams, then, are the true materials from which the Feet of the
verse are made,, which are called Padam or Charanam ; both which
words signify Feet. They may be compared to the hemistichs of penn

POETRY- gg5

tameter lines» or the pause which we make ii) the middle of the verses
of ten and twelve syllables, in French and English. They enumerate a
variety of these Padams, according to the number of Ganams they con-
tain ; some having three, five, seven, or more.

As in peptameter verse, two dactyls or two spondees may be put in
the first hemistich ; • so also, in certain Fadams, they may use one
Ganam or another at pleasure, provided the number of shorts and longs
is preserved. This mixture, however, must be managed without affec-
tation, to avoid the appearance of pedantry.

But every species of Ganam is not equally admitted into all sorts of
poetry ; some of which require certain fixed Ganams. On this point
the Hindu' prosody enters into a great variety of particulars not very
importjint. The case is nearly the same in the Latin Ode, where a rigo-
rous restriction to certain feet is required, and where others, though
on the whole equal in quantity,* cannot be admitted.

The Long Feet y in Hindu verse, have each their particular name ;
as the Elephant, the great Tiger, the Serpient Capella, and so forth«

5. The Rhyme.

The Hindus have a two-fold Rhyme in their verses. The one sort
falls on the first letter or syllable of the line, and is called Yety or Vadu
Thus, in two verses, where one begins with the word Kirti and the
other with KirtanUj Ki is the Yety or Rhyme. The other sort falls on
the second letter or syllable fi-om the beginning of the line, and is called
Prctëam. In two lines, one beginning with the word Capagny and the
other with that o{ Dipantram^ pa is the Prasam. .

Although they are unacquainted with blank verse» yet they are not
very rigid in point of metre. For the Yety^ they make Ka, Ksha, Kta,
all rhyme together ; or Pe, Pte, and so forth. There is still more licence
in the Rhyme of the Prasam^ in which nothing is positively required
but to attend strictly to the consonant, without any regard to the voweL
Thus, for example. Da, De, Di, Do, Du, all rhyme together. But these
metres are avoided as far as possible ; and the lines that have the Yety
and the Prasam exactly to correspond, are most admired» The nearer

M M

ggg POETRY.

this resemblance is attained so much the more palatable to the Hindu ^
though, to us, such sort of chimes would appear ridiculous play, like the
comical line of Ennius so often in the mouths of schoolboys as very
ludicrous — " Tu tibi^ Tite Tati, mala tanta, tyranne^ tulisti.^^

The only thing remarkable in Hindu prosody, with regard to rhyme,
is this complete opposition between our custom of putting the rhymes
at the ends of the lines and theirs of placing them at the b^inning ;
which also adds to the difficulty of their composition of verses.

6. Of the Verse.

Padamsj ^ or feet, arranged artfidly with regard to quantity and
rhyme form the Padyamsj which are sometimes called Slokams^ apd may
be compared to the stanzas or strophes of some Latin odes, such as
those of Horace beginhing. ^^ Jam satis terris nivis atque dirœ^^^ &c
and " Pastor cum traheret per fréta navibwj^ &c.

The Hindu poets have several species of Padyams, each of which
has its particular name. In the simple Cawdapadyam^ certain feet,
and no other, can be introduced ; in the same way as in the hexameter
verse, dactyls and spondees only can be used. But a single Ganam
may sometimes compose a whole verse, such as Devakif desakij
Camsudu. There are a great many minute instructions to be attended
to on this subject, which are too minute to detail.

It will appear from what has been said, that the Hindu versification
is by no means easy ; and accordingly, though great numbers in every
cast dabble in rhymes, there are but few who make them correct or
conformable to the strict rules that are laid down. Their poets, how-
ever, possess an advantage which does not attend most of the European
tongues, and particularly the Frçnch, in the numerous synonymes
with which the Indian languages abound.

There are five authors who are principally esteemed as writers on the
Hindu prosody, as having laid down fixed and unalterable laws for the
art of making verses. The author I have followed has so arranged his
work, that every rule is comprised in one verse, which serves for an
example of what the rule prescribes.

BOETRY. 267

7. Of the Taste and Style of Hindu Poetry.

The poetical expression of the Hindus perhaps offends by too
great loftiness and emphasis. One may miderstand their books and
conversation in prose; but it is impossible to comprehend those in
verse, mitil diligent study has rendered them familiar. Quaint phrases,
perpetual allegories, the poetical terminations of the words, contracted
expressions, and the like, render the poetical style obscure and difficult
to be understood, excepting to those who are inured to it

'One of the principal defects of the Hindu poets, at least when com-
pared with our taste or our prejudices, is that their descriptions are
commonly too long and minute. For example, if they are describing
a beautiful woman, they are never contented with drawing her likeness
with a single stroke, as a European would generally do In similar
cases ; saying, perhaps, that she possessed all the charms that nature
could confer. Such an expression would not be strong enough for the
gross comprehension of a Hindu. The poet must be more exact;
he must particularise the beauty of her eyes, her forehead, her nose,
her cheeks, and must expatiate on the colour of her skin, and the man-
ner in which she adorns every part of her body. He will describe
the turn and proportion of her arms, legs, thighs, shoulders, chest,
and in a word, of all parts, visible or in^sible ; with an accurate re-
cital of the shape and form which - best indicate their beauty and
symmetry. He will never desist from his colouring till he has repre^
sented in detail every feature and part in the most laboured and tedious
style, but at the same time with the closest resemblance.

The epithets, in their poetical style, are frequent, and almost always
figurative; which makes them approach very nearly to the Latin
poetry.

The brevity and conciseness of many modes of expression in the
Hindu idioms, does not hinder their style, upon the whole, from being
extremely diiSuse.

Their verses, in many of their dialects at least, would appear harsh
and inharmonious to a European ear, on account of the frequent

M M 2

Q/H{ POETRY»

aspirations to which many of the letters or syllables are subject,
which in many cases seem incapable of being joined together. Yet
this mode of pronunciation has a certain firm and masculine tone,
which makes up for .its uncouthness. The observation, however, does
not apply to the poetry in the Tamul language, in which many of
the {>oets write ; because that dialect has no aspirations.

To give an eKact idea of the different species of Hindu poesy would
not be much relished by the greater number of readers, so different
is their manner from ours. All their little pieces that I have seen are
in general very flat.

I know not whether they have any regular dramatic pieces, all that
I have seen • of this nature being mixed with songs and dialects of
which I can give no distinct idea, never having taken the trouble to
study any of them.

As to epic poems, they have several. The two most celebrated are
the Ramayana^ which contains a rapid sketch of the history of RamOj
or of Vishnu metamorphosed into the shape of that hero, and the
BhagavatUy which relates chiefly to the adventures of Vishnu, under the
name of Krishna. These two poems are of an unconscionable length»
Their authors have introduced into them all the fables on which the
religion of the Hindus is founded. Their narratives of the same story
are often at variance; and ^ they do not at all adhere to the rule of
Aristotle, who confines the duration of the epic poem to the period of
one year ; for the Bhagavata takes up its hero before his birth, and does
not leave him till after he is dead.

The extraordinary and marvellous adventures which are related in
the Eneid of Virgil and the Iliad of Homer do not in any degree
approach to the incredible prowess and the wonderful achievements
of the Indian heroes, whose exploits are celebrated in these books.
All that ancient story hands down of Enceladus and his terrific com-
panions, cannot bear a comparison with what is here related of the
giants, who sometimes fought against Rama, and sometimes on his
side. Tasso himself is feeble in the description of mighty feats, when
compared with these transcendent fabulists.

( 269 )

CHAP. XXV.

.THE EPISTOLARY STYLE OF THE BRAHMANS.

X HE epistolary style of the Brahmans and of the other Hindus in
general is in many respects different from ours. I cannot better ex-
plain it than by adducing examples taken from their own letters.

I have selected the three following specimens, to shew, by the firstf
how a Brahman addresses a person who is his inferior ; by the second5
one who is his equal ; and, by the third, a- person who is above him*

Letter to an Inferior.

^^ They, the Brahman Soubaya, to him Lakshmana, who has all
♦* good qualities, who is true to his word, who by the services he
" renders to his relations and friends, resembles the* Chintamani;
** Asirvadam.

" Year of Kilaka, the fourth day of the month Phalgima, I am at
" Banavara, in good health. Send me news of thine. As soon as
** this letter shall have reached thee, thou shalt go to the most
*^ excellent Brahman Anantaya, and prostrating thyself at all thy
" length at his feet, thou wilt offer him my most humble respect,
" and then, without delay, thou shalt present thyself before the
" Shelty" (that is, the merchant) " Rangapa, and declare to him that
** if he shall now put into thy hands the three thousand rupees which
" he owes me, with interest at twenty-five per centum, I will forget all
" that is passed, and the matter shall then be at an end. But if, on
" the contrary he makes shifts and continues to defer the payment of

* This is an imaginary stone which was supposed to procure every thing good to its
owner. The word asirvadam means a blessing.

270 EPISTOLARY STYLE.

<< the money 9 tell him that I am acquainted with a method of teaching
<^ him that no person shall safely break his word with a Brahman, such
<^ as I am. This is all I have to say to thee. Asirvadam/'

Letter to an Equal.

^< To them the Lord, to the Lord Ramaya, who possesses all the good
<^ qualities which can render a man esteemed ; who is worthy to obtain
" all the favourii which the Gods can bestow j who is the beloved of
^^ beautiful women, who is the particular favourite of Lakshmi ; who
<^ is great as the Mount Meru, and who has a perfect knowledge of
<< the Yajur veda: the Brahman Subaya; Namaskaram'* (respectful
greeting).

^^ The year Durmati, the fifteenth of the month Fhalguna, I am at
^< Bailore, where I and all the members of my family enjoy good health.
<< I shall learn, with great gladness, that it is the same with you ; and
" I trust you will inform me particularly of all the subjects of satisfac-
" tion and contentment which you experience.

" On the twenty-second of the month above mentioned, being a day
<< in which all good omens unite, we have chosen that the marriage of
" my daughter Vijaya Lakshmi shall be celebrated. I beg you will
" honour the ceremony with your presence, and be here before that
" day with all the persons of your household, without excepting any.
" I expect you will put yourself at the head of the solemnity, and that
" you will be pleased to conduct it. * And if there is any thing in
" which I can be of service to you, have the goodness to let me know
" it. This is all I have to apprise you of Namaskaram."

Letter to a Superior.

" To them the Lord t> to the Lord Brahman, to the great Brahman
" Anantaya, who are endowed with every virtue and all good qualities ;

* This is an expression used out of politeness to every one who is invited under similar
circumstances.

f Â superior is always addressed in the plural, both in speaking and writing.

iC
iC

EPISTOLARY STYLTB. g^j

«^ who are great as Mount Meru ; who possess a perfect knowledge of
** the four Vedas; who, by the splendour of their good works, shine
** like the Sun ; whose renown pervades the fourteen worlds : I, Eish-
" enaya, their humble servant and slave, keeping my distance, with
" both hands joined, my mouth closed, mine eyes cast down ; wait, in
^< this humble posture, until they shall vouchsafe to cast their eyes on
<^ him who is nothing in their presence. After obtaining their leave,
^^ approaching them with fear and trembling, and prostrating myself at
^* my whole length before the flowers of Nenuphar *, on the ground
** where they stand ; and, thus submissive, with respectful kisses, will
" I address their feet with this humble supplication :

The year Vikari, the twentieth of the month Paushya, I, your
humble servant and slave, whom your Excellence has deigned to
^* regard as something, having received with both hands the letter
" which you humbled yourself by writing me ; after kissing it and put-
" ting it on my head, I afterwards read with the profoundest attention,
" and I will execute the orders it contains, without departing from them
" the breadth of a grain of Sesamum. The afiair on which your ExceL
^^ lence has vouchsafed to command me is in good progress, and I hope
" that, by ihe eflScacy of your benediction, it will soon terminate to
<< your entire satisfaction. As soon as that happens, I, your humble
*' servant and slave, shall not fail to present myself (agreeably to the
" orders of your Excellence) at thç flowers of Niluphar of your holy
feet. I now entreat your Excellence to. impart to me the commands
and instructions necessary to enable me so to demean myself as to
" be agreeable to their will, and that you will clearly point out to me
" in what manner I may render myself most acceptable to your blessed
" feet For this, it will suffice, if I receive from your bounty a leaf of
** betel t indented with your nail, in care of some confidential per-
** son, who can verbally explain the orders of your Excellency. Such
" is my humble prayer."

* Hie same as the Lily of the Lakes.

f A person dispatched on a verbal message, is frequently supplied with no belter creden-
tials than a betel leaf with the print of the nail.

272

EPISTOLARY STYLE.

The style of these letters strikes us at first as extraordîilary, and very-
remote from what we use in similar circumstances. But, if we atten-
tively consider the epistolary forms that still prevail in Europe, and
analyze the letters which Europeans often write to their equals, gene-
Tally concluding with soliciting as an honour to be favoured witji admis-
sion into the number of their most humble and most obedient servants^
it will not appear so easy to determine which style of the two is the
more ridiculous and servile. The principal difference, perhaps, is that,
in their letters, the fulsome compliments are inserted at the beginning,
and in ours at the end.

It is not to be denied that the fawning, tumid and bombastic phrases
which the Hindus use, appear to be arrayed with too much affectation ;
and we ought to admit still more readily that, in our translations, we
come far short of the expressive vigour of the Indian terms. The
simple structure of the European tongues does not succeed in translat-
ing them literally.

The compliments with which all letters between man and man in
India commence are often much longer and more extravagant than
those we have adduced. I have seen epistles in which the compliment-
ary effusion covered a whole sheet. But it is chiefly, wh«n writing to
persons of great dignity of rank, or when some object is expected to be
gained, that the full plenitude of complimentary blandishment is drawn
out. The real source of all is to be found in the eager and passionate
desire for praise and adulation, which all Hindus feel.

In letters, written by one Hindu to another, one never sees respects
or compliments offered to their wives. Such an attention would be mis-
placed, and would be considered not only ridiculous but as a gross
breach of politeness. They can only be mentioned under particular
circumstances, such as condoling with a man on the death of his wife.
Then the woman might be praised for her excellent qualities, and
wishes might be expressed that the husband might soon find another
wife of equal merits. For it is not singular to see a Hindu widower
marrying fifteen days or a month after the death of his wife.

When there is occasion to communicate to any one the decease of a
relation, the pustom is to singe a little the point of the palm leaf on

EPISTOLARY STYLE. 373

which the afflicting news is written. This has a like import as the
black seal used by us in such cases. The same practice takes place
when one serves another in writing with a severe rebuke. The appli-
cation of fire to the palm leaf shews that he who sends it entertains a
feeling of resentment.

When a superior writes to his inferior, he puts his own name before
that of the person to whom he writes ; and quite the reverse when he
writes to his superior. Indeed it would be considered as the grossest
rudeness if he happened to set his own name first.

Having treated of the language of Poetry and X)f the Epistolary
style among the Hindus, I will now ofier some remarks that I
made on their writing.

( 274 )

CHAR XXVL

ON THE HINDU HAND-WRITING.

X H£ learned of Europe have made innumerable researches into the
origin of writing ; on the manner by which it has been transmitted by.
one people to another ; on the different characters used ; on the tablets
and different sorts of paper employed for writing on ; and many other
questions relating to it. Some have carried their inquiries as far as to
the Chinese, and are willing to assign their writing to a Phoenician ori-
gin. I am surprized that they have not paid more attention than they
seem to have done to what might have been collected amongst the
nations of India, which would have furnished them with more grounds
of conjecture than can be found amongst any other nations#

Although I have not the vain presumption to imagine that what I am
about to say can be made the foundation of a theory capable of elucidat-
ing the origin of this ingenious art, yet I conceive my remarks will be
read with some interest by those who study the curious contrivances
invented by men to supply their various wants, and also by those who
delight in tracing the simplicity of early times in the vestiges which still
remain.

Were the Hindus the first inventors of writing, or did they borrow it
from some other nation ? Might not the whole of the Hindu tribes have
drawn it from the same source, that is to say from the children of Noah?
The historian Josephus supposes it was older than the flood ; because,
according to him, the principles of all science must have been inscribed
on pillars of stone, as otherwise they could never have been transmitted
to the post-diluvian race. The restorers of the human kind, who com-
municated to their descendants the knowledge of the arts invented

HAMD.WRITINO. g^S

before the flood, would scarcely omit to instruct them in one so useful
to society^ If this fact were sufficiently verified, it would be mere waste
of time to follow the learned in the profound researches and vast dis-
play of erudition which they have expended on this subject.

,The Hindu books attribute the invention to the great Brahma, the
creator of man and author of his destiny. Each individual carries his
doom inscribed on his forehead by the hand of God himself. The
sutures of the head, seen on a skull, are the hand-writing of Brahma;
and the letters there impressed contain the future lot of the individual.
This is a fable, no doubt ; but it must be also admitted that it is one
of very great antiquity, and sufficiently proves, at least, that when it
was invented, they had already the knowledge of writing in India;
otherwise how could they imagine traces of writing in those marks ?

That this knowledge existed amongst the Hindus^ in the most ancient
times, is proved by another authority of as old a date as the former.
The four Vedas are attributed to Brahma, who wrote them on leaves
of gold. These books, which contain the detail of the idolatrous cere-
monies which this people practises, are the most sacred of all, and at
the same time the most ancient which they acknowledge. Their other
books, of which many are, without contradiction, very old, speak of
these as of a far earlier date. The language also in which they are
written has become imintelligible, in many places, from desuetude

by age.

Here, therefore, we find books, and consequently the use of writing,
among the Hindus, in times extremely remote.

One of the principal articles of the Hindu faith is that which relates
to the ten incarnations of Vishnu. The first and earliest »of the
whole is the change of this God into a Fish. And what was the cause
of it? It was the loss of the four books which contained the four
Vedas. Brahma, under whose caiB they were left, fell asleep ; and a
giant, his enemy, took that opportunity of stealing the sacred volumes.
Having escaped unperceived, he flew to the sea/ with his precious
booty, which he swallowed and deposited in his bowels, the better to
secrete it. Vishnu, metamorphosed into a fish, went in pursuit of his
enemy; and, after a long search, discovered him at length, in the

N N 2

27g HAND-WRITINO.

Aeepest abym of the Ocean. Hatiiîg attacked him theret fought him l^d
Taoquished him ; he tore him in pieces, plucked the concealed books
âom his lowest entrails, and restored them to him who was their author
and guardian.

: Hooks, therefore, are the subject of one of the oldest fables of India.
Let the ïkiropean critics who can find nothing ancient but in the Fen*
tateuch of Moses^ or in Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus, point out in
these authors any traces of this fable from which it could have been
borrowed ; and then they may talk of its modem date.

The Fourth Veda of the Hindus teaches Magic; and thence pro-
bably all ancient nations derived their Occult Arts. There are practices
m India very much resembling those that the soothsayer Balaam em-<^
ployed against the camp of the Israelites, as detailed in the twenty-second
and two following chapters of the book of Numbers. This wicked sci-
ence, having been cultivated, from very early times, by the Egyptians
(who might have acquired it from the Brahmans of India), may have
spread, in the same manner, to the nations bordering on Egypt. And
k was, no doubt, from that country that the false prophets, or magicians^
who so frequently made their appearance among the Jewish tribes, drew
their instruction. But, however this may be. Idolatry and Magic are
twin sisters, who are seldom found separate. The Hindu idolatry has
to much the higher claim to antiquity, that it does not appear, like that
of the Greeks and Romans, to have been borrowed from any foreign
source, and that some of the writings which contain its details are per-
haps the most ancient of any that exist in the world.

I know that the greater part of the literati of Europe, who have been
willing to find the mythology and the divinities of India in those of the
£g3rptians and Greeks, will not agree with these conclusions. But are
their researches on that subject decisive, and their reasons demonstra-
tive ? What they have laid down in the most positive way, and what has
been most applauded by those that support them, has produced no con-
viction in the mind of an actual observer in India. But I shall have
oecasion hereafter to dilate on this subject ; my only intention at pre*
sent being to shew that the certain antiquity of a book on magic in India
is also evidence of the early use of writing in that country.

HAND-WRITING. ^^f

Some of the native authors ascribe the mvention toa^fiunoixs penitent
called Agastya; so short, that he was not a hand's breadth in statura
He is one of the oldest authorities to which they refer» having been con**
temporary with the Seven Penitents who were saved from the flood in
the vessel of which Vishnu was the steersman : the whole being pro-
bably nothing else, as we have already observed, than the story of Noah
and his family, disfigured by the fables of idolatry.
\ All these proofs on whic^ I found the antiquity of writing among the
Hindus, I shall be told^ are nothing more than a tissue of fables, so ab-
surd that no reasonable conclusion can be drawn from them. Lict it be
so : but, at least, the whole world must confess that these same fables,
however absurd, are of high antiquity ; and that their existence, in such
ages, necessarily implies the existence of writmg also in those very
early times.

But it is clear it can be no fable, that in the times of Lycurgus, neariy
ft thousand years before the Christian œra, there w^e philosophera in
India who were more eagerly sought after than those of E^pt, and who
Would have been unheard of by the Grecian literati, if they had been
decent, or of ordinary repute. Such philosophers therefore, who were
also astronomers, must have been long accustomed to the art of writing,
which such sciences as these essentially pre-suppose.

Having premised so much on the origin of writing in India, let
us now consider its present state. Our observations here will be
directed to the characters which the Hindus use in writing ; the material
on which they inscribe them; their mode of writing; and, finally, the
form of their books, and of the letters which they address to each other.

1. The written Characters.

It is said there are eighteen living languages used in India ; and
though some of them bear a resemblance to others, yet the characters of
the greater number are quite dissimilar. What resemblance, for exam-
pie, between the letter >i (a, short) and 9^ (long a) of the Tamul
tongue, and the corresponding letters of the Telinga, ^i i^*
The difference is not less striking in every other letter of the alphabet ;
iand the same diversitv, as bétire^n these two, existn ift Almost all- the

27g HAN]>.WR1TING.

rest. DîfPecent, however, as they are. in the signs which they employ
in writing, there is a wonderful similarity in the idioms, in the turn of
their phrases, and the arrangement of the words; which scarcely
admit of any inversion* In these last particulars, they differ widely
from the European languages ; which, with a general resemblance in
the idiom and the character, are altogether unlike in the particular
turn, cast and arrangement of the style.

Notwithstanding the diversity of the written characters in the several
dialects, there is an affinity between the languages themselves ; so that
a person who has learned one, may easily understand those of the
contiguous districts : and it is very common to meet with Hindus who
speak fluently seven or eight languages^ or more.

But, what is most remarkable here, and makes it almost impossible
to describe the difference of character among the various dialects, is
first, that all the languages of the country that I am acquainted with
have the same arrangement of lexers in the alphabet ; 2. that all the
letters are double, each having a long and a short; 3. that the
short and long vowels are always placed at the beginning of the
alphabet, and before the consonants, as ^ â, ^ !, â i2, &c. 4. that these
vowels are letters purely initial, which are never so written but at the
commencement of a word, and vary their form when used in the
middle or after a consonant ; 5. that each consonant has a vowel com-
bined, and forms a syllable ; thus, one never pronounces b or d mute,
but buj da. A slight change in the character will make the a vanish,
and substitute another vowel according to its new shape. Thus, in
the Canara tongue, the consonants OjO {ba) and (^ {da) undergo the
following change of sound by the slight alteration of the shape of the
letter :

W ^ T^ & g, /^

ba be bi da de di

How is it that there is so great a resemblance in the idioms of
these languages, as well as in the structure of the composition, and so
wide a discrepance in the signs and characters ? The mother language
of all that are spoken in India» from which each derive» a common

HAIfD^WRTTING. 279

idiom and method, having an alphabet so arranged as we have seen ;
how comes it that the daughters should have adopted a character so
difierent from that of their common parent ?

The like difference is observable in the form of their ciphers, or
arithmetical figures, as in their alphabet ; and indeed in this case the
abberration is greater. For though they all follow the dedmal scale,
they have different modes of expressing it. In the Tamul language,
they do it by a single sign ; thus :

^ LU /Vf ^

] 10 100 1000

In the Talinga language and the Canara, they follow exactly the same
process which we have adopted from the Arabians, expressing the units
by a single sign, the tens by two signs, the hundreds by three, and so
on. Their arithmetical scale approaches still nearer to ours, by their
employing our cipher, and even giving it the same form of a circle, as
will be seen in the following example :

1 2 10 11 20 22 100 104

O 9 AO An 90 9^ Cioo r\o^

120 • 1000 1001 1020

^^^o r\ooo r\ a o fx 0^9^

Such is the Talinga arithmetical notation, corresponding very nearly
with what was communicated, to Europe by the Arabs, at the end of
the tenth century. Such a coincidence can hardly have arisen from
chance, and it is therefore extremely probable that the one nmst have
been taken from the other.

The . Tamul notation seems to have greater resemblance to the
Roman mode than to the Arabian; for they express the arithmetical
signs by letters of their alphabet, and ^use but a single letter to denote
unity, ten, a hundred, and so forth.

But different as the Hindus are, in this particular in their several
divisions ; they are still farther removed from the characters^ used by
other ancient nations, which have come down to us ; such as the
Phoenician^ the Syriac, the Arabic, the Greek. The notation differs no
less than the mode of arrangem^itt seeing that two of the . last

280 HANIXWRITINQ;

mentioned nations wrote from right t6 1^ while the Hindus write is

we do. . .

f 1

% The Material on which they, write.

Paper is not unknown to the Hindus. They manufacture it,
from cotton, as is generally believed, but of old bags made of tiie
rind of a plant, having first separated the coarser filaments whiob
supply the place of hemp. I believe, however, that the use of this
coarse paper is modem in India, and posterior to the invasion of the
Moguls, who are acquainted with no substitute for paper, and still
follow the Persian mode of writing. Some Hindus, particularly such as
live in the provinces where it is difficult to find palm leaves, also use
paper ; but more generally black tablets, on which they write with a white
crayon^ The ordinary practice, however, is to use the palm leaves^
both in common writing and for books. The palm tree is n generic
name, which is extended by Europeans to the cocoa tree and the date
tree, though the leaves of neither of these be at all adapted for writing
on. What they actually employ are those of the Latanier ; at least
the descriptions I have seen of that treç exactly agree with <;his fi-om
which the Hindus take their leaves for writing. They are of two
species, the greater and the smaller ; of which the" latter is the most
common, and afibrds the best leaves. They are in breadth about three
fingers, and two feet long* Each of them will admit of seven or eight
lines ; and they are thicker, stiffer, and stouter than double paper, so
that after writing, or rather engraving on one side, they turn to the
other, without at all injuring what is on the reverse.

The other species of palm-tree or latanier is much taller than the
genuine one ; and it bears no fruit, which the Hindus regret, though
according to my taste, they are no great losers. The leaves of this
species are larger but not so firm, for which reason they are. not used-
for writing but when no other can be found. They are sometimes
taken, however, out of ceremony, when à person of distinction is to
be addressed.

The island of Ceylon produces the first species of leaves in sudt
prodigious abundance that aa English halfpenny would purchase paper
enov^ for copying out a whole volume in folia .

HAND-WRITING. 281

Quintus Curtius relates, that the Indians, when they were invaded by
Alexander the Great, wrote with an iron point on the smooth and ten-
der bark of trees. I cannot help thinking, however, that the Latanier
leaves, which are soft and polished, must have been taken by that au-
thor for the rind of a tree ; more especially as one can see no trace in
India of any writing being done upon bark.

The Cumaean Sybil in the Eneid is conjured not to write her oracles
on the leaves. of trees, which the wind would speedily disperse :

" Tantum foliis ne carmina manda,

Ne dispersa volent rapidis ludibria ventis."
I

Whence could the idea have arisen of the prophecies of the Sybil being
inscribed on leaves ? Those of tlie Latanier, from their density, are not
much subject to be the sport of the wind. What leaves, then, can Vir-
gil allude to ? But this I will leave to the commentators of the Prince
of Latin poets to determine.

3. The Hindu method of writing»

They execute it with an iron spikes sometimes six inches long, the
upper end of which is commonly formed into a cutting edge to trim
the sides of the leaves, so as to make them all straight. In writing
with the spike, neither chair nor table is wanted. The leaf is sup*
ported on the middle finger ^of the left hand, and is kept steady by
being held between thç thumb and the forefinger. The right hand, in
writing, does not slide upon the leaf, according to our practice in writ-
ing on paper ; but, after finishing a word or two, the writer fiâtes the
point of the spike in the last letter, and pushes the leaf firom the
right hand towards the lefi;, so as to enable him to finish his line. This
becomes so habitual and easy, that one ofi^en sees a Hindu writing m
he walks along.

As this species of penmanship is in fact only a sort of faint engraving,
the strokes of which are indistinct and not easily read, especially by weak
eyes, sometimes they besmear the leaf with fresh cow-dung, rubbing the
surface weU, so as to leave nothing behind but the finer parts that adhere

o o

^2 HANDiWaiTlNO.

to the engravefd lines. This they afterwards tinge with iblaiok^' and thus
the writing becomes more visible, and easier to read.

This mode of writing is undoubtedly more simple and easy than oon^
for smftll occasions. Neither does it require, like ours, the apparatus of
tftble, chair, inkstand, and so forth. But I own that ours lias tiheâdvan-''
tage when we have to do with large affidrà, or the keeping of jouniak
and ledgers.

The Hindu writing is not exempt from «the great inconvenience whidi
attends our old manuscripts, by the absence of points and marks, as well
as of the separation between the words and sentences. Besides, their
orthography is so extraordinary and complicated, in some dialects, that
the best reader cannot decypherwhat he.has before him withouthesitation'^
and without close attention ,to the subject, especially when it is not^set
down according to the rigorous grammatical principles, which the
greater number are ignorant of or ne^glect. This difficulty is most
severely experienced in the Tamul tongue. •

When the Hindus write on paper, they do not use a pen ; the fowls
which furnish the quill, such as geese and swans, being unknown in
most districts of their country. They use for the purpose, a Calam or
reed, somewhat thicker than our pens, and cut :in the same manner :
this word Calam is remarkable on account of its resemblance to the
Latin Calamus ; from which the Hindu word must be derived, as I con-
ceive the use of paper in that country is not old.

' • ' • ■ . . . ' ■

4. TTie manner in which their Books and Letters are made up.

In making up a book of several leaves of palm tree, there is no ocça«
sion for a bookbinder.. A small hole is bored at each extremity of the
leaves, through which they are strung together by a small cord. Two
thin boards are then applied, the one above and the other below, of the
same length and breadth as the leaves, so as to form a cover to thé
book. «These are likewise pierced at the extremities, and small pieces
of wood or iron are passed through the holes in the boards and the
leavjes, so as to connect the whole together. A long string is fastened
to each end of the bits of wood or iron ; and by wrapping it several

HXra)-WRITING. 388

times round thebook thé whole is kept shut If this mode be simple»
it COTtàînly is not oomraodioua; for» as often as one consults tiie book,
he ihust unlace the string, take out the pegs and throw the whole volume
into disorder.

The Hindu manner of writing, as well as the binding of their books,
approach nearly to the customs of the Romans on the same occasions ;
for we are informed by Seneca that the ancient Latins wrote on plates of
wood, which they strung together, and formed into a Cavdex; from
whence, as he observes, is derived the Latin word Codex.
■ I have spoken already of the epistolary style of the Hindus. With
r^ard to the form of their letters, they content themselves with rolling
up the leaves of palm on which they are written, and enveloping the
whole in an outer leaf, upon which l^ej write the address. Care must
be taken about the due length and breadth of the leaves, as well as the
manner of putting them up in the outer case, in proportion to the rank
of the party addressed.

M We are not to judge of the antiquity of writing- in India by the datés
which we find inscribed on some pagodas or temples of idols ; because
it has been a trick of the Brahmans to put up such dates, as, though
evidently rec^itly written, would make the origin of the building ascend
to the commencement of the Kalùyuga. I have seen temples Which
have been erected within these few years, bearing inscriptions that
Would carry them as far back as the flood ; and that too in the presence
of those who had helped to build them, some of whom are still living.
Such is the Hindu abhorrence of falsehood !

The gradual change in writing, which takes place in some countries
in the lapse of time, is not a safe ground of (Conjecture as to the age of
Hindu manuscripts. I have seen an act of donation written on a plate
of gold, in Canara characters, more than two j&undred years ago; thé
letters of which are perfectly legible, and exisictly like those at present
in use. No alteration has therefore taken place in that great interval
of time.

In some inscriptions, however, of very high antiquity, characters are
found not now in use, although they reMmble letters employed in writ*
ing in other idioms of the country. Some are also found in various

o o 2

S84 HAND-WRITINO. v

places, where the characters are evidently foreign and wholly unknotm;
It is probable that such inscriptions have been cut by artists brought
from distant parts to embellish the edifices on which they appear; and
who, being jealous of their architectiu*al fame, would not leave it at
the mercy of those who had employed them, or who had assisted them
in the labour. By these they might have been robbed of all the praise,
if the writing had been made in the ordinary characters.

The remarks I have made concerning the dissimilarity of the letters;
and the resemblance of style, in the writing of different districts in
India, may be equally applied to the Siamese dialect. The alphabet,
and particularly the vowels, are there arranged, in the same manner as
in the Hindu idioms : a, ee, oo^ e, ai^ o, ati, am, aJi. In some languages
of India, the point or mark which denotes the vowel that always ao^
companies the consonant, is placed before it ; as in the Tamul syllables
é ^y te, and (TLy* P^9 the sign ^ prefixed to the consonant repre-
sents the e, pronounced after it though placed before it The same
practice is followed in the Siamese writings in several letters ; which
can scarcely have been fortuitous, and rather indicates that these two
different dialects spring from the same source.

The Pali language, or learned tongue' of Siam is a corrupted Sanscrit.
It is not to be doubted that the people of that country anciently spoke
this primitive language of the Hindus. It would even appear to have
extended much farther, as I have had several Sanscrit words pointed out
to me in the Malay tongue.

The shape of the characters of the Siam^ese writing, at least as flax as
I have seen, is indeed altogether different fi:om that of the Hindu; But
the same dissimilarity is remarked among the different idioms of India ;
and it may be farther observed that the Siamese follow the Hindu mode
of writing from left to right, and not from right to left, as the Arabs doj
nor from top to bottom, like the Chinese. Though they appear there-
fore, to have a strong affinity to the latter race in the features of the face, .
as well as in their religious and civil ceremonies, their language and
manner of writing seem to approximate them more closely to the peo»
pie of India, and to assign them the same origin.

HAND-WRITING.

285

The stupendous miracle that took place at the tower of Babel, soon
after the flood, in multiplying the languages of men, probably produced
an equal variation in their writing, if writing was then invented. In lan-
guage, the change does not appear to have been so absolute as not to
leave some words in common ; and the written languages, also, in
their divergency, may have retained, in their alphabets, some traces
of their common origin.

Besides this primitive alteration, in the age of the flood ; the subse-
quent dissemination of the religion, the science and the commerce of
nations with one another, the wars and irruptions of conquerors, and
à thousand other causes, have served to introduce into writings as
well, as oral discourse, those important changes which make it so dif-
ficult to ascertain whence many languages are derived.

( 286 )

J' .

«"■ •

CHAR XXVII.

DEATH AND OBSEi^UIES OF THE >aEAHMAN8.

X H£ decease of a Brahman is attended and followed by such a
number«of foolish and ridiculous ceremonies, as clearly prove the
determination of that sect to outdo the rest of their countrymen in
this as well as in all other things. And indeed they are not at all
rivalled, in regard to rites performed for the dying ajid the dead. ' We
shall first briefly mention such as accompany the agony, and then such
as follow the death.

When it is evident that a Brahman is in extremity and has but
a little time to live, a space is prepared with earth, well spread with
cow-dung, and strewed with the holy herb of Dharba ; over which a
cloth that is pure is stretched. By this is understood on the present
occasion, a cloth which has neither been worn nor washed in suds.
The dying man is placed upon it at his full length, and another pure
doth is wrapped round his loins. This being done, they ask his per-
mission to perform upon him the ceremony of expiation ; which is to
be made by the Purohita, assisted by the chief of the funercd. This
appellation is given to the person who, by proximity of kindred, or
by the customs of the country, has the charge of conducting it. The
dying man having given his consent, the chief of the funeral brings on
one plate, some small pieces of silver or copper coin, and on another,
the Akshata, the Sandal, and the Fanchakaryam. The Purohita pours
a little of this last into the mouth of the sick man ; arid by the virtue
of that nauseous draught the body is perfectly purified. But this does
not supersede the general cleansing called Prayashita. This is ac-
complished by the Purohita and the chief of the fimeral going up to

, DBAT0. AND OBSEQUIES. ggij

the dymg man and making him recite within hirnself,, . if he cannot
articulate, the proper Mantras *; by the efficacy of which he is dé*
livered from all his sins. For this reason, the ceremony is called
Prayashita, or general expiation* But how shall we gravely describe
the next ceremony ? A cow is introduced with her calf^ Her horm
are decorated with rings of gold or brass, and her neck with garlands
of flowers. . A pure cloth is laid over her body; and thus bedecked^
she is led up to the sick man, who takes hold of her tail. Mantras
in the meantime are sung, the prayer of whidb is that the cow would
conduct him, by a blessed path, to the next world. He then makes
a gift of the cow to a Brabknan, in whose hand a little water is poured
while he accepts the present; which is the ordinary ratification of
agift«

The donation of a cow, which is termed Godanam, is, in this crisis;
of indispensable aid in helping the soul to arrive, without accidents,
at the YamarLokam^ or the. world of hell, which has Yama for its
king and lord. In this progress Ûxey come to a river of fire, which all
must pass after death. ' Those who have made the Godanam^ « or the
gift of the cow, to a Brahman before they die, are met by one of
these favoured.^creatures from the dwelling of Yania, the moment they
arrive at the bank of the stream ; and by her help, they are tenabled to
cross, without injury fi'om the flames.- <-*,,.

The Godanam being ended, a distribution; of the pieces of coin is
made amongst the Brahmans present; and their value united should
amount to that of the cow^

On this occasion also, are prepared the Doso^i^fanai», or T€n Gifis^
(reminding us of the Latin Decern Dona) to be distributed on the day
of the funeral, which is conjectured not to be far oSL These, tat
presents consist of the following articles: cows, lands, millet«seed,
gold, butter, clothes, grain of various kinds, sugar^ silver, and salt.
Such costly gifts ofiered to the Brahmans, being very acceptable to the
gods, will accordingly secure to the dying man a blessed world after
his death. ... : ^

It is fitting that a Brahman should die upon the ground, not on a
bed, nor even on a mat; and the reason is this :: his soul' being dis*

2gg MIATH AND OBSEQUIES.

aigaged from his body :must enter into another, which will carry it to
the world that is destined for it And if he should die in his bed or
OQ a.mat, he musjt carry with him these moveables wherever he goes j
which would be very tormenting. If, on the other hand, he should
happen to die, by any accident, in a different way from what has been
here supposed, a much more liberal distribution of presents, and a
longer tract of ceremonies would be required to get him extricated fix)m
the burdens attached to him. This absurd and ridiculous idea, in
which the Brahmans are educated, has given rise to a curse very com*
mon among them, when they quarrel ; namely : ^^ mayest thou never
^^ have a friend to lay thee on the ground, When thou diest"

As soon as the breath has departed, all who are present must weep
for a reasonable time, and join in lamentations, in unison, and with a
melancholy air adapted to. the circumstances.

The chief of the funeral then goes to the bath, and after ablution,
closely shaves his beard and mustaches j makes a second ablution, to
cleanse him from the pollution contracted fix)m the touch of the barber
who shaved his head ; and indeed on all occasions, ablution must follow
the contact of the barber. The conductor, on his return, brings several
things to the dead body ; and amongst others a piece of pure cloth to
serve as a handkerchief for the deceased, and fire for the sacrifice of the
Homam, which he himself offers up without delay.

After these introductory ceremonies, the corpse is well washed, and
the barber is called to shave his head, and wheresoever else hair grows.
He is invested with his finest clothes, and decorated with all his jewels.
BLe is rubbed with sandal where he is uncovered ; and the accustomed
mark is affixed to his forehead. Thus dressed, he is placed on a species
of state bed, where he remains exposed until the preparations are ready
for carrying him to the pile.

Every thing being in order, the chief of the funeral approaches the
body ; and with the assistance of some relation or friend, strips it of
its clothing and jewels, and covers it with the handkerchief provided
for the occasion; one corner of which he tears off, and wraps in it a
small bit of iron and a few seeds of sesamus. I never discovered thç
reason of this praotica

DEATH >Ua) OBSEQUIES. Ô89

. The litter on which the body is placed to be carried to the pile, : is
constructed in this -manner. To two long poles, placed parallel, they
fasten seven pieces of wood across, with ropes of straw. Upon this
firame the body is laid at all its length. Then they bind the two thumbs
together, and also the two great toes.- The handkerchief, which was
before negligently thrown over the body, is now carefully wrapped
all round it, and firmly bound by straw-ropes. They, leave the faces
uncovered of those only who have died in the state of marriage*
The litter, adorned with garliuids of flowers and foliage, and sometimes
decked with valuable stufl^, is borne by four Brahmans dbiosen for that
purpose. The procession is thus arranged.

The chief of the funeral marches fwemost, carrying fire in a vessel*
The body imm.ediately follows, surrounded and attended by the re-
lations and firiends, all unturbaned, and with nothing on their beads
but a plain bit of cloth, in token of mourning. The women never
attend at the funeral^ bat remain behind in the house ; where they set
up hideous cries as it is setting out While advancing on the road, the
custom is to stop three several times on the way, and at each p^use, to
' put into the moutii of the dead a morsel of unboiled rice moistened.
But the object of the stoppage is very important. It is not without
example, they say, that persons, supposed dead, have not been actually
so ; or, even when lifeless, have been reanimated and restored ; and
sometimes also, it has happened, that the gods of the infernal regions
have mistaken their aim, and seized one person instead of another»
In any view, it is but right to afford time and the opportunity for
rectifying such mistakes, so as not to expose .to the flames a person
who maybe still alive. Hence the proprietyr of the ^ three pauses {
each of which continues half the quarter of an hour.

Having at length arrived at the place set i^art in each district for
btiming the dead, they commence by digging a trench; of inconsiderable
depth, and about six or seven feet in length» The small space, which it
occupies is consecrated by the mantras of the Furohita. It is slightly
sprinkled with water to lay the dust; and a few pieces of money in gold
àré scattered Upon it. Here the pile is efected, of dry wood ; 6n which
the body is laid put at full length. The chief of the funeral kindles a

p p

290 DEATH AND OBSEQUIBS.

piece of dried cow dung *, and puts it on the breast of the corpse, over
which he itiakes the sacrifice of the Homam, which is immediately sucr
ceeded by the most extravagant of all ceremonies. The conductor
places himself close to the deceased, and addresses certain mantras to
each aperture in the body ; at the same time, applying his mouth to
every one of them in its turn. There are nine in all, according to the
Hindu account, which includes the two eyes, the ears, the nostrils, the
mouth, the navel, &c. When lie has concluded the appropriate man-
tram to each orifice, he pours into it a little liquid butter, which operates
a perfect cleansing of the body. The disgusting and indecorous spec-
tacle is closed by his putting a bit of gold coin into the mouth of the
corpse ; which each of the assistants follows up with a little crude rice
that has been steeped in water»

They at last strip it of the few ornaments which were left, and even
of the handkerchief with which it was enveloped, and the little belt to
which the bit of cloth is appended which all Hindus wear before them.
Over the body a quantity of twigs are laid, which are slightly sprinkled
with Panchakary am ; and the chief of the funeral, taking on his shoulders
a pitcher of water, goes three times around the pile, letting the water run
aslant over it through a hole made in the vessel ; which he then breaks
in pieces, near the head of the corpse. This act and the more important
one that follows constitute him the universal heir to the deceased.

At last, the torch is brought for setting fire to the fatal pile, and is
presented to the chief of the funeral. But*, before receiving it, he is
obliged to make some grimaces to prove his sorrow. He rolls about
a little on the ground, beats his breast, and makes the air resound with
his cries. The assistants also cry, or appear to cry, and embrace each
other, in testimony of their true or counterfeited grief. Fire being
then applied to the four corners of the pile, the whole crowd retire,
excepting the four Brahmans who carried the body ; and they remain
until the whole is consumed.

** It k well known that in India the scarcity of fire-wood is so great as to oblige the in-
habitants to bum the dung of the cow or bufialo^ which has been previously flattened and
made thin like a cake.

DEATH AND OBSEQUIES. 29X

The chief of the ftineral flies immediately to the bath, and plunges
in» without taking off his clothes. All dripping, and in the open air,
he boils some rice and pease, and exposes them to the crows, which, it
is well known, are numerous in India ; but on such an occasion, the
crows are not crows, but devils or malevolent beings, under that shape,
whom they wish to appease and render propitious by this offering. If
they should refuse to eat, which the Hindus say has sometimes hap-
pened, it is taken for an evil presage of the future state of the deceased ;
and people would thence have a right to conclude that, so far from hav-
ing been admitted into a region of bliss, he had been kept fast, notwitb*
standing all tlie mantras and purifications of his brethreui in the Yama
Lokam^ or place of torment.

. The body being consumed, the four individuals who alone continued
about the pile, repair to the place of assembly of the other Brahmans
who have assisted at the funeral. After three times walking round the
assembly, they request permission to go to purify themselves in the
Ganges. This boon being obtained, they formally wash themselves
from the sin, as they term it, of carrying the carcase of a Brahman.
; All present are then invited to join in the bath of death, with a parti-
cular application to him who has just been consumed. After the
dreadful heat he must have undergone, the bath, they suppose, must be
refreshing to him. When it is finished, some presents of money and of
be^tel are distributed among the assistants, after presenting them with
the Dasa Danam or Ten Gifb, which had been previously got ready.
The assembly then shew themselves before the gate of the house of the
deceased, into which no person can enter in its present poUuted^tate ;
and, after washing their feet, they return home.

. The chief of the funeral, ho\^ever, has still something more to perforin;
He must fitll with earth a small vessel, in which he sows nine sorts of
grain : Bice, Wheat, Sesamum, Millet, and several sorts of pease. They
-are well watered, to make them shoot soon, and be ready for the cere^
monies to which they are applied.

But there is an intermediate one to be performed, not less curious.
It consists ià placing in the house of the deceased a small vessel filled
with water, supported by a thread, fixed to the cieling or to a beam*

pp 2

1292 DEATH AND OBSEQUIES.

This thread serves as a ladder r for one of the Pranas^ or winds of the
body of the deceased, to descend every day to drink. It remain» t&à
days ; on each of which a handful of boiled rice is put into the dish to
serve as food for the Prana»

After the cotnpletion of all these ceremonies, and not till then, the
people «of the house may eat. But, for that and several following
days, the food must be simple and unseasoned, so as to accord with the
idea of sorrow.

All the rites we have mentioned, and many others we have omitted,
are observed with the most scrupulous exactness; either from supersti-
tion or respect to appearances. The omission of the most frivolous or
ridiculous of all would probably excite the greatest murmuring and
ofience. Poverty, indeed, necessarily excuses the performance of those
that are attended with great expence, such as the ceremony of the
Dasa Danam,' or Ten Gifts.

Though the customs of the other Hindus are in the same taste m
those of the Brahmans, yet they differ from them in some striking par-
ticulars. Such are the dull and deafening sounds of their drums, tnan^
pets, and other instruments of music which accompany the funerals of
the Sudras, and which are not in use among* the Brahmans. Among
the instruments alluded to for aiding the expression of grief, the most
remarkable of all is a kind of trumpet called Tuti in Tamul, five or six
feet in length, whose awful and dismal roaring spreads consternation all
round. Two of these instruments at least must be employed, and they
are sounded with a most piercing, though monotonous, tone. The one
thunders out a sort of Si Bemol^ on which it dwells near half a minute ;
and, after a moment's pause, the other groans in a Sol Diez, which he
prolongs in the same manner. Their obstreperous alternations, which
are continued through the whole ceremony and are heard afar off, are
intended to inspire dread, and are indeed well adapted to increase the
solemnity of funeral rites, by spreading consternation through the
whole neighbourhood. But it is still more remarkable that these same
lugubrious instruments accompany the wedding festivals, among some
casts, with their tremendous braying.

DEATH AND OBSSQUDSjS. 29S

The greater part of the ceremonies which we have attempted to de-

scribe, afford complete evidence of the distinct knowledge which the
people of India have preserved, in the midst of the darkness of their
gross idolatry, of the immortality of the soul, and above all of the neces-
sity of a remedy to obtain the remission of sin ; though the emblem of
pollution, under which they represent this condition of the soul, no
doubt has often led them to coiifound the voluntary corruption of the
mind with the stains which affect the body alone.

In the different Franams, where this subject is frequently in view, and
by which sometimes the soul itself is signified, and sometimes the prin-
ciple of life, under the notion of Wind, can one avoid recurring to the
Breath of Life of the Holy Scripture, by which the Creator animated
the day which he had formed, and man ^^ became a living souL" But,
in all ages, it has been the particular ^tendency of superstition and
idolatry to darken and corrupt the purest ideas of natural religion.

( 294 )

CHAR XXVIIL

THE CEREMONIES PRACTISED BY THE BRAHMANS FOR THE DEAD, AFTER THE

OBSEQUIES*

X HE rites which the Brahmans celebrate for a whole year for their
dead will perhaps appear more tedious than those we have already
described. To avoid this as much as possible, we shall be contented
with giving a brief outline of the principal ones, leiiving it to the reader
to imagine the constant recurrence, upon every occasion, of the bath-
ing, the Mantras, and the eleemosynary presents to the officiating
Brahmans.

The day after the obsequies, besides the ordinary alms to the
Brahmans in general, a special mark of attention is shewn to one
in particular, by giving him a piece of cloth, and money sufficient to
provide him with a good repast. Both are given with a view to the
deceased, who, as they observe, can be hungry no more nor stand in
need of clothing.

The third day, the relations and friends re-assemble, and proceed
to the place where the body was burnt. The chief of the funeral
collects the remains of the bones which have withstood the flames, and
after moistening the ashes with water and milk, he puts them into a
little new basket, and throws them into the water, if there be any at
hand, or if not, into some desart and solitary place. A part, how-
ever, is reserved, which, after being properly wet and made into
a kind of paste, is fashioned into something of a human shape ; and
this is understood as the representative of the deceased, and has
sacrifices offered up to it with the usual ceremonies. Some reserve a
part of the ashes, to be cast, at some ftiture time, into one of the

CEREMONIES FOR THE DEAD. q^

famous rivers which possess the sacred virtue of purifying, and'éveh
sanctifying whatsoever they touch.

After this first ceremony, a small bank of earth is thrown up, on
which three little stones are set ; one called by the name of the de-
ceased ; another by that of Yama, or the god of hell, and the last
denominated Rttdruj or he that is the cause of tears. It is likewise
one of the titles of Siva, the god of destruction ; and the place where
the dead are burned is called the land of Rvdra.

After decorating the three stones with flowers and small slips of new
cloth, a sacrifice is offered up to them with great solemnity ; and then
the assembled Brahmans set up a cry of lamentation, all in one tone,
and embrace the chief of the funeral. He, in his turn, makes them
the usual presents, and after exposing to the crows, or rather the devilis
in the shape of those birds, some rice and boiled pease, he takes up
the three stones, and carries them home with him, to be used in the
rites of the ten following days. For the present all is finished, and
every one betakes himself to his home.

On the fourth day, the chief of the funeral after bathing, performs
the sancatpanoj or application of thought. His meditation must be
wholly fixed upon Vishnu, of whom he is to think as master of the'
world. To this consideration, he must add that of the metamorphosis
of this divinity into a hog. He must also think of Brahma, of the
earth, the sun, the moon, and several other gods. He must call to
mind the year, the month, the time of the month, the day of the
week, on which the deceased yielded his breath. Many other con-
siderations must be present to his mind, which we cannot stop to
enumerate.

In general, the application of thought is recommended in all the
ceremonies, which are made by Furohitas; and it would be a very
commendable practice if it were employed on rational objects.

In most of the ceremonies practised during the twelve idays of
mourning for the death of a Brahman, they make great use of the
sacred herb dharba^ or darphy^ as it is called in some languagesJ^
Mention is made of this plant so regularly, in almost every rite of tibe

29g CEREMONIES FOR THE DKAD.

Braibmans, that a short account may not be here misplaced of the
origin of that veneration which the Hindus entertain for it.

It is found every where, but chiefly in wet and marshy places, where
it * grows spontaneously. In some parts, it is so plentiful that the
natives thatch their houses with it It reaches to about three fert in
letigth. The blade resembles that of the common grass. In the
Hindu books, there is no end to the pfaises bestowed on this herb, and
the good it occasions. It is this great estimation in which it is' held
that recoitimends it to the Brahmans to be used in all their ceremonies.
The cause of its virtue is that when the gods and the giants joined
together to churn the sea of milk, by means of the Mandara Parvata or
Mount Moadara (probably the Caucasus,) which served them foi; la chum»
and when from this operation emerged the vase which contained the
AnuUari, it was first set down upon this herb ; which acquired firom
the sacred contact, the most excellent qualities.

But, to return to the ceremonies of the mourning. Those whidi
are carried on up to the tenth day, being nearly in the same style aç
those which have been already described, require no farther notite.
On the tenth day, they vary in several particulars. The chief of the
fwneral then provides some dishes of savory food in the manner of the
Brahmans, but in no great abundance. He adds to them flowers and
fruits ; and the whole being covered with cloths stained yellow with
saffron water, iis placed on a sort of tray, and carried to the widow of
^e deceased. She then adorns her forehead with some scarlet
emblem, the edges of her eyelids with black, her hair with red flowers,
her neck and bosom with sandal, and stains her face, arms, and legs
with the ordinary dye of the country, which consists of water made
yellow by a mixture of powdered tumeric She then puts on her jewels
and her finest robes.

All whu are present then proceed to the brink of the nearest tank oi-
well. The chief of the funeral marches at their head, bearing the se-
yeral articles necessary for the ensuing ceremony. He is followed by
the widow, by several other married women who accompapy her, and
% great number of the relations and friends. They repeat the ceremony

CEREMONIES FOR THE DEAD. j)^

of the three little stones, and receive the offering of rice and other
articles^ brought for that purpose from the house. The women have
then permission to weep ; which they employ with loud shrieks, beating
their bosoms till their grief real or pretended is exhausted. The chief
then introduces a ceremony which is worthy of notice. He takes, |he
three little stones, and. the vessels in which is commonly prepared the
rice offered either to the stones or to the crows. Then, going into the
water up to the neck, he turns towards the sun, whom he addresses in
these words : <^ Up to this day, these stones have represented the d^
^^ ceased. Henceforth let him cease to be a corpse. Now let him be
^^ received into the Swarga (the paradise of Devendra.) There let
^^ him enjoy all blessings, as long as the waters of the Ganges shall con-
^^ tinue to flow." In pronouncing these words, he casts behind him
the stones and the vessels he held in his hands» and returns to the bank
of the pond.

It deserves to be remarked ; as a thing perhaps now peculiar to the
idolatry of the Hindus, though admitted in some degree into the an-«
cient religion of other nations^ that they rank the carcasses of the dead
among the subordinate and malevolent deities. It appears also that it
is only those that suffer a violent death, or that have been deprived of
the ordinary funeral rites, who remain in this abhorred condition of car-
casses, and who prowl through the vast regions of the universe to inflict
evil upon men. Such as perish by an ordinary deiM^, and who recâve
the accustomed funeral rites, retain but for a few days this hideous
form.

In this aspect of Hindu Paganism, a considerable resemblance appears
to the Manes of the Greeks and Romans, or to the shades of their dead»
fluttering on the banks of the river Styx ; and, perhaps, still more to the
walking spirits which are to this day believed in by many persons in
Europe.

The women have likewise their own particular ceremonies ; the most
important of which is that performed in constituting the wife of the de-
ceased a widow. We have elsewhere described this ceremony, as applied
to women in general ; but a differenee4akes place in regard to the wives
of Brahmans.

«4

2gg CEREMONIES FOR THE DEAD.

On the bank of the .pool where they are assembled, a shed is con«
structed, oto which they pkce a ball of earth, to which they give the
name of the deceased ; and his wife, stripping off her jewels, lays them
on the ball, pronouncing these words : " I divest myself of these as the
" ^évidence of my love," She then, with her own hands, cuts the TàUi
from her neck ; the emblem of matrimony, which is worn by all wives.

These ceremonies are iMCompanied with the tears and loud cries of
her who is the object of them ; and the other women, embracing her by
turns, join in the cries and lamentation.

The ' custom is, in such cases, not to untie the string by which the
Tahli is suspended, but to cut it; and hence arises the curse so often
imprecated by women, when they quarrel : ** may your Tahli be cut ;'*
meaning, may you become a widow. For it is by this sign, ^ above all
others, that the state of widowhood is published and declared.

After the lamentation is ended, they bathe, in order to purify them-
selves for the following ceremony. The chief of the funeral extends on
the ground, in a suitable place, a long piece of new and pure cloth,- on
which he places a vessel filled with water, and whitened on the outside
with chalk. Close to the vessel is placed a small heap of safBx>n powder;
which represents the god Vighneswara^ to whom they sacrifice, as well as
to the vessel itself; by which means the water it contains becomes the
holy element of the Ganges. All the assistants must drink a little of
this water, to cleanse them from all the impurities they have contracted
during the celebration of the funeral. Every one then receives an areca
nut and a leaf of betel, and the widow a new dress.

The ceremonies of the eleventh day are not more interesting, and
therefore we shall lightly pass them over. On this day the chief of the
funeral repairs to the tank, attended by the Purohita and nine Brafa-
mans. There he digs a little trench, which he fills with cow-dung. This
he kindles; and on the fire he performs the sacrifice of the Homam. He
then rolls up two little balls of boiled rice, and casts one after the other
into the fire. Prostrating himself before that element, he prays for a
blessed world to the deceased ; and immediately he returns to the house
for the Deliverance of the Btdl.

To celebrate this rite, one of those animals is selected, which must
be all of one colour, and that either white, red, or black. Having deco-

CEREMONIES FOR THE DEAD. 299

rated him well .with garlands of flowers, they brand, on his right flank»
with a hot iron, the . figures of a sort of weapoa called 5u/a,. which
is appropriated to Siva. In honour of him the bull is set at liberty,
and has a right to pasture at large. This emancipation of the bull is
considered as one of the most meritorious acts that can be performed
for the welfare of the deceased.

The celebration of the twelfth day is of a piece with the preceding.
From amongst the eight Brahmans who are invited by the chief, he se-
lects one, whom he constitutes, in his thoughts, a dead carcase. He
puts in bis. hand the herb Dharba, and washes his feet ; upon which he
then puts some grains of Sesamum. Seating him then in a particular
place, he puts Dharba on his head, pendants of gold at his ears, and. a
ring on his finger, and, after making him some presents of cloth, he
ends by putting a string of Rudrasha about his neçk. These are a kind
of beads, of which necklaces are often made, and are nearly of the size
and shape of a nut.

Afterwards they proceed to one of the funeral rites which the Brah-
mans deem the most important of all. In a place prepared for the
purpose the chief deposits four little balls made of rice and. other veget-
ables, kneaded together. The first is for the deceased ; . the. second
for his father ; the third for his grandfather ; and the fouith for Ms
great grandfather. He pours a little water on each, and adds a few
grains of Sesamum. Then addressing himself to the Brahman, who re-
presents the corpse ; ^^ thou hast been till now," says he, ^^ a dead car-
^^ case ; henceforth thou shalt be a progenitor ; thou shalt dwell where
^^ they reside, and enjoy all happiness." He has no sooner spoken
than he takes up the ball which was dedicated to the father of the de-
ceased, divides it into three parts, and kneading each portion with one
of the three other balls which have remained entire, he ofiers tQ them
a sacrifice in common.

Although the Brahmans, in the invocation of their ancestors, on this
and similar occasions, confine themselves to the three latest gejierations,
yet they by no means exclude thQ3e that, are ipore remote. On the con-
trary,. they particularly enjoin upon those whom they invoke, to bring
with them their, forefathers,

QQ 2

30Q CEREMONIES FOR THE DEAD.

After having acoomplished all the ceremonies of which we have given
this brief detail, the chief of the funeral goes to the tank and bathes,
and then returns home, well wrapped up in a sort of cloak. On reach-
ing the house, he embraces all his relations there assembled, and ad«
dresses them in words of consolation. An entertainment succeeds for
all those who have assisted at the ceremonies of mourning ; after which
he resumes his turban : a matter so important as to require an ostenta*
tious display of ceremonies peculiarly adapted to the occasion.

The rites which we have described are not the only ceremonies prac-
tbed on the death oS a Brahman. The same, or similar ones, are
repeated at least fifteen times in the course of the year in which he
dies ; and the day of the anniversary of his death, called Tidhy^ must
be kept for a succession of years. The same ceremonies, or nearly so^
are repeated, of which we have furnished so tiresome a detail.

The ceremonies practised at the death of married women, are not
much unlike those performed for the men. To die in the state of
matrimony, is so happy an event for a woman, that it can be nothing
less than the reward of the fervent worship she has paid to Lakshmi, or
some other distinguished goddess, during her life.

But I will close this long and tedious detail concerning Mourning,
after recounting one remarkable ceremony which is practised by all the
casts.

The Hindu Astronomy attributes to the Moon a sort of zodiac con-
sisting of twenty-seven constellations, haiing a relation to her periodical
course of the same number of days. The four last are more or less un-
lucky ; and miserable is he who happens to die when the Moon is in
that part of her orbit. Or, unhappy rather are his relations. The body
of a person who dies under so inauspicious a planet, can in nowise be
carried over the threshold. In taking it to the ftineral, an aperture is
made, by demolishing a part of the waU, through which it is brought, to
escape the perilous consequences which would otherwise ensue upon so
ill-starred a demise. It is necessary to abandon the house for six or at
least three months, according to the degree of malignity of the lunar
influence, at the time of dying. While this is going on, the door is
barricadoed with bundles of thorns. The time being elapsed, the

CEREMONIES FOR THE DEAD. ^X

briars are removed, the door opened, and all the apartments carefblly
garnished. The Purohita attends to accomplish the purification by his
rites. It is then in a condition to admit of a feast and donation to the
Brahmans ; after which its owner may dwell in it as before.

The same superstitious observance takes place with respect to Births.
When they occur on days when the Moon is passing through a malign
consteUation, the relations are so much alarmed at the evils which can-
not fail to ensue, both to themselves and to the children bom in so evil
an hour, that they secretly get rid of them either by delivering them
over to people who are less credulous on that score, or, when they can-
not find such an opportunity, by exposing . them on the highways
or streets.

In admitting the absurdity of the Hindu superstition in general, aqd
that of the fiineral rites in particular, we are not compelled, thank Grod!
to insult over the blindness of those who have so erred. I view their
conduct only with eyes of compassion. Such, and lower still, perhaps,
were our own ancestors ; and such would we ourselves have been, .but
for the undeserved gift of Revelation, which the Father of Light h&s
condescended to impart unto us, in his infinite mercy, .for the purpose
of rescuing us firom the thick darkness in which our fordathers were so
long immersed, and of exalting us to the glorious light of truth: Thanks
without end be to Him for those his inestimable blessing» I

( 302 )

CHAR XXIX.

OF THE THIRD CONDITION OF TH£. BRAHMANS, THAT OF VANAPBASTHA OR

INHABITANTS OF THE DE3ART.

X HE third order of Brahmans is that of Vanaprastha, or Inhabitants
of the Desart. I know not whether any of this order still remain in the
territory washed by the Indus» or in the north of India ; where it is
<;ertain they once abounded and flourished. This sect of philosophers
is now to be found no where in the peninsula, and I believe it to be
«there absolutely extinct.

The ambition of acquiring a name, and also that of attaining the
utmost degree of perfection by purification in solitude, impelled mi^iy
of the Brahmans, in ancient times, to forsake the towns and all inter-
course with men, and to retire into the woods, with their obsequious
wives. They who . assumed this distinction, were kindly received by
those who had embraced it before them, and were initiated by them
into the rules of a solitary life.

From this class of philosophers, the Brahmans of pristine times ac«
quiredall their original. lustre; nay, it appears that they were the true
founders of the cast. To them, undoubtedly, it was that Alexander the
Great, after invading their territory, applied for instruction ; and to
them allusion is made by the ancient Greek and Latin authors, when
they speak of the Brahmans of India. At the time, therefore, when
the conqueror pf Greece penetrated into their country, they were still
famous, and were esteemed the only real Brahmans. There were, no
doubt, a great many who lived in intercourse with the world ; but they
were not held in equal reputation with the Vanaprastha.

VANAPRASTHAS. gQg

The most celebrated amongst them, and the most ancient, were the
Seven great Rishis or Penitents, whom we have ali*eady mentioned/
Their successors enjoyed nearly the same degree of respect. "Even
their Kings did not disdain to shew them honour, and to pay them mark»
of reverence which almost approached to adoration. They looked for^
no success but through their benediction, which they prei(erred to all the
honours they could elsewhere obtain. On the other hand, they stood
in extreme awe of their curse, which was believed never to fall innoxi-
ously.

The reception accorded* to some of those solitary Brahmans by a great
monarch, is thus described by the author of the Padma Purana : » -

Penetrated with joy and respect beyond expression, he prostrated*
himself at full length before them. When he rose, he made them^sit
down, and washed their feet. He then poured the water that had
" been so used, upon his own head. This was succeeded by a sacrifice
" of flowers, which he ofiered to. their feet Then, with both hands:
^^ clasped and raised over his head, he made them a profound obeisance'
^ and addressed them in these words : ^ The happiness which I enjoy-
•* this day in seeing your holy feet, is a sufficient reward for all the
^^ good works I have yet performed. I possess all happiness in beholds
" ing those blessed feet, which are the true flower of Nilufar. Now is
^ my body become wholly pure. Ye are the gods whom I serve, and
•• besides you I acknowledge no others on the earth. Nothing is purer
" than I shall henceforth be.' "

Such is the degree of honour in which the Penitents are held, and
such the style of Hindu compliment. It indicates a sentiment of the
lowest flattery in those who use it, and no great degree of reverence, for
their gods. The same taste subsists, in its full vigour, to the present
day, and particularly among the Brahmans : for, when they have any
thing to hope or to fear, even if it were from a Paridi, there is no strain
of compliment too high for the occasion.

It is not surprizing that Kings should pay such honours to the peni-
tent philosophers, seeing that the gods themselves respect them, and
feel honoured by their visits. There is no sort of approbation or dis-
tinction which the deities do not manifest for them ; while they, in

30( VAHAFmASIUUL

witmBf trait tiwm with hân^Éûnew^ and

WiiBe» lufl^ iriio pnd s Tisit to each of the tlff^

Jfldby and beg^ hb intemew by^ gifrii^ HkcilyU

waa to knoir hair they waaU donean thansehrei, and to

tempeTf by the conduct whidi they would adopt upon sndi a

Tbe penitoits always maintained a kind of siqieriority over tfe
and froniibed them aeverely when they found them in foidc It
coit Biahmay Siva, Dev^idn^ and some other deitiei, }weHi
have incorred their maledictions, on account of
soenities» These stories, silly as they are, prove the hi^ opinmt
has been entertained of the penitei^ and the antiquity of
tution ; on which I shall hazard some conjectures.

The Hindu fiible of the seven penitents that were saved
waters of the deluge in a vessel of whidi Vishnu was the pilot,
to shew that sons of Noah, or at least of Japhet, to the number of
seven, having been dispersed by the £mious event whidb confomaded
their language at Babel ; some of them mi^t have readied India by
the way of Tartary, and so have become the first founders, not only of de
Brahmans, but also of the other people who gradually settled in tfe
country in which they had instituted laws. It happened to the peo^e
who inhabited India, as it has done to all other ancient nations, that
the laws prescribed to them for their worship, their morals and good
order in society, as well as the dogmas for preserving health, sufiered
in a length of time groat alterations, occasioned by prejudice, interest,
and a thousand other causes. At length, they degenerated into a
philosophy ill understood in many respects, to which certain Brahmana
attached themselves } forming at once a sect of philosophers and a com-
munity separate from the rest of the nation. Their retreating to the
woods, the austerity of their lives, and their contempt for temporal
wealth; the purity of their morals, and their high cultivation of
science, were qualities which could not fail to establish their re^putation
and to gain the public esteem.

It can scarcdy be doubted that these sages of India are of higher an*-
tiquity than those of Greece. For, what was the philosophy of Greece
before Pythagoras, and what its legislation before Lycurgus ? It was

VANAPRASTHAS. 3O5

because legislation had been established in India on fixed rules, and
because the philosophy of that country had spread its renown as fair as
Europe, that those two celebrated philosopJh^rs undertook, at difiereAt^
periods^ so long a journey, in order to see the Hindu Vanaprasthas»
and to study their precepts and their example. Nor were they, as far
as appears, the only persons that visited India with similar views.

It is true that the philosophy of the Greeks, though later in its origin,
soon surpassed that of the Hindu Brahmans, by the dléamess of its
conceptions on all the points which it discusses, by the beauty of its
morality, by the success with which it cultivated every science, by its
researches into the nature of the Divinity, and by the abhorrence
which it inspired for the ridiculous gods of pa^uiism. Yet it would
be unjust to deny that the Brahman Vanaprasthas also would have made
great proficiency in the knowledge of morals and of divinity, had they
not sufibred their minds to be pre-occupied by the idle dogmas re»
specting the means of purifying the soul ; which they thought indis-
pensable in practice, although with the certainty of spoiling their
whole philosophy. In this way, the wisest of the Hindus became the
most besotted.

This illusion concerning uncleanness and the corresponding purifi*-
cation fi'om it, which they pursued, as one may say, tiU they lost
sight of it, made them stum];)le from one error upon another, firom
precipice to precipice; and the current which hurried them away
carried with them the whole nation, of whom they had been the
oracles. This was the more unavoidable that the people of the north
had just subdued India, bringing with them the Brahmans, who were
hardly known tiU then, and who established their religion upon the
ruins of that of Buddha ; the one altogether as absurd as the other.

It may be asked, whether there was any communication between
Zoroaster, or his disciples, and the Vanaprasthas of India : a question
to which I do not consider myself capable of giving an answer. A
great affinity has been demonstrated to exist between these two
difierent casts of people by a modem author % whose profound and
interesting researches into Oriental literature have challenged the

♦ Sir William Jones.
R B

306 VANAPRASTHA&.

attention and admiration of the learned of Europe. This author, in
comparing the Zend, or sacred idiom' of the ancient Persians with the
Sanscrit of India, has found so great a resemblance between these two
ancient tongues as to lead him to pronounce that they were in
ancient times the same dialect. Nevertheless, the worship of Zoro-
aster and.that of the Brahman s are so different, and in many pard-
culars so opposite to each other, that it would be very difficult, on
comparison, to persuade one's self that they both sprang from the same
fountain. And if at the present time, some slight resemblance is
observed between the Gabars or . Parsees, and the Hindus, in the
worship of fire, which is common to both ; their religion and customs
are wholly different in every thing besides. But that which constitutes
the fundamental basis of the Hindu philosophers is so . exclusively
peculiar to them, that I believe, no traces of it can be observed in
any other nation ; nor can it be shewn that there is any thing in their
practices, religious or civil, in which other nations have been their
instructors.

I pretend not but that, in some particular points, there is. a resem-
blance between them and philosophers of other countries. Their
morality has a great affinity to that of 2^no and the Stoics. Their
manner also of teaching, by imposing a great deal on the memory,
bears a likeness to that of the Druids. The spirit of seclusion which
characterises the Vanaprasthas, is also fomid among the Rehabites, the
children of the prophets, and the Essenians of Egypt. But no certain
knowledge can be thence derived concerning the philosophy of India,
the antiquity of which seems to go beyond that of those other nations.

It is extremely probable that it must have had for its founder some
one of the ancient patriarchs, grandchildren of . Noah ; who being
contemporary with those who are mentioned in Scripture, and instructed
in the same system of morals, may have transmitted them to their
descendants who settled in India. Amongst these some enthusiasts
and. fanatics were found, who, aiming at the perfection of morality and
perhaps at the renown of surpassing their masters, entirely perverted,
the doctrine of their ancestors, and formed the sect of Vanaprastha
philosophers.

( 307 )

CHAR XXX.

RULES OF THE VANAPRASTHAS.

The life of the Brahman Recluse wasTegulated by the observance of
certain rules of conduct to which those who embraced it were restricted.
They are thus described in the Padma Purana^ to my quotation from
which I will add a few remarks to make it more intelligible.

1. The Vanaprastha must renounce the society of other men, even of

the Brahmans, and take up his abode in the desert, far from

towns and inhabited places.
The renunciation, however, was not so complete but that they might
be permitted occasionally to revisit the world, for several purposes ; in-
stances of which are seen in thé Hindu writings.

2. They shall carry with them their wives, who must be subject to

the same course of life as themselves.
It is here that the Vanaprastha is chiefly distinguished from the
Sannyasi Brahman, who is bound to live single, or to put his wife away if
he has one. But though the Vanaprastha be not condemned to ab-
solute continence, it is yet required of him to use his conjugal rights
with moderation.

3« They must inhabit no house that is covered otherwise than with
leaves, as any other dwelling would ill become those who profess
to have renounced the world.

Houses thatched with palm leaves are very common in India.

RB 2

aOfr RULES OF THE VANAPRASTHAS.

4. They must not wear garments of cotton doth, but must always

have their dress of a fabric made from grass.
This last species of cloth is still common in the north of India. It is
as soft to the touch as silk, and has the advantage of not being subject
to be soiled like the cloth of cotton.

5. They ought to practise, with the greatest exactness, all the rules

prescribed to the Brahmans in general, particularly that of bath-
ing three times every day ; with the accompanying prayers.

6. They must be particularly attentive in the choice of whatever is

used for food. They should always confine themselves to such
herbs as are found within the forests they inhabit. They ought
scrupulously to abstain frt)m all roots that form a bulb in the
ground, and particularly from onions.
The Brahmans of the present time as well as the other casts of Hin-
dus who live on vegetables, stiU keep up this regulation. Onions, gar-
lic, mushrooms, and some other productions of the same kind are pro-
hibited to them, although their women, who are npt so scrupulous,
sometimes introduce, very secretly, both garlic and onions for a reUsh
to their ragouts. In the practice itself, a similarity will be found to
the Egyptian superstition, in which onions are considered sacred, and
even as the objects of worship.

7. They must be continually lûeditating and pondering on Para-

Brahma ; by which means they may attain that spiritual temper-
ament which shall re-unite them with the divinity.
We shall speak, in the sequel, of the various modes in which this
re-union may be effected.

8. The sacrifices, and above all that of the Yajna^ ought to be their

principal occupation.
In the next chapter will be found the description of this sacrifice, the
most famous of all that are offered up by the Brahmans.

RULES OF THE VANAPRASTIIAS.

309

I am surprized that the author of the work had not inserted among
the occupations qf the Recluse Brahmans the study of the Sciences ; for
it is certain that at least a very great number of them cultivated learn-
ing with assiduity, particularly those branches that relate to Theology,
Morals, Astronomy, and Magic. To them we are indebted for the
Hindu books, which still exist on those subjects of science.

These ascetic philosophers^ as far as we can judge, observed their
rules in all their force at the time of the invasion of Alexander the
Great ; and there is reason to believe that they persisted in them long
after the era of that famous conqueror. Their conduct was far superior
to the general rules we have quoted, as may be inferred from the
following account of their principles.

Men, according to these philosophers, are bom with three leading
impulses ; which they express by the following words : Lokor^yetshanee^
Attor-yetêhanee^ Pvtra^yetshcmee. The first is the Love of Land ; the
next the Love of Gold ; and the last the Love of Women. By the
Love of Land, they mean not only the various property which one may
acquire during his life, without even excepting a throne, but also em-
ployments aùd posts of honour.

So far were they from grasping at wealth or aspiring to dignities of
this kind, that their exhortations and example sometimes prevailed upon
Kings themselves to make a sacrifice of their worldly possessions, and
to renounce their state and dignity, to lead with them a philosophi-
cal and penitential life in their forests. The Hindu books make frequent
reference to those penitent and secluded Princes. They sometimes
went beyond the Brahmans, their masters, in the fervout and austerity
of their penitence. And, so far fi*om being jealous of their illustrious
rivals, these have frequently, in admiration of their extraordinary devo-
tion and zeal, conferred upon them the signal distinction of becoming
Penitent Brahmans like themselves, and have incorporated them accord-
ingly with their cast.

By the passion for gold, these philosophers meant not only the desire
of possessing that metal, but also whatever else it could acquire as
money ; such as precious stones, fine houses, rich dress, sumptuous
feasts, and whatever appertains to the table^ The Vanaprasthas had

310 RULES OF THE VANAPRASTHAS.

the same indifference for all these good things ftô they professed to have
for worldly honours and possessions inland. The simple furniture of
their cabins consisted of some vessels of copper atid earthen ware. They
accounted themselves sufficiently rich if they had some cows to supply
them with the milk which was the chief ingredient of their food. For
this reason the present of a cow was gladly- accepted by them from any
of their votaries.

Many very extravagant fables are still extant regarding these cbws'of
the Penitents. I have found in the Bhagavata the history of one^ which
could supply, not milk only, but every species of food, for a large army.
A neighbouring Prince being desirous to possess so valuable a treasure,
went to seize her by force ; but the Vanaprastha to whom she belonged
had received her from the gods, as a recompence for the fervour of his
devotion, and the merit of his sacrifices ; and the cow, being endowed
with as much courage as exuberance, rushed into the midst of the
enemy's force, which had come to carry her away, and put the whole
army to the rout.

As these solitary devotees lived in great simplicity, their expénces
were but small ; and they found, in the offerings which were brought
them by their numerous votaries, not only enough for their own wants,
but also for the alms which they gave to the necessitous among their
visitants. They confined themselves to one meal daily. Inebriating
liquors were not in their thoughts ; nor was the want of them felt as
any privation by men accustomed, from their infancy, to consider the
use of such an indulgence as impure and debasing. They had con-
tracted in good time a salutary detestation of it, and no crime appeared
in their eyes so degrading to human nature as drunkenness.

By the passion for women they understood all the sensual pleasures
connected with the sex, excepting what the legitimate union of a man
with his wife permits ; and, even in that case, their moderation in the
use of authorized enjoyment was extreme.

On this subject we may perceive, in the conduct of those philoso-
phers, vestiges of the primitive races of men, who held sacred the com-
mand of their Creator to our first parents : " Increase and multiply and
^^ replenish the earth/' They held it as an indisputable obligation im-^

RULES OF THE VANAPRASTHAS. gj 1

posed by nature on all living creatures, to transmit, by a new generation,
the existence which they received from their predecessors. But they,
were so strongly impressed with true sentiments concerning marriage,
and with the purpose of Him who ordained it, when He created the
first man and woman, that they abstained from all intercourse but as it
promised to be fruitful : so different in this respect from the Manicheans^
who, as St. Augustin relates, from their dislike of progeny, never acted
the husband but under circumstances where conception was not likely
to ensue.

They were convinced, in short, that a spiritual life was unattainable,
excepting by subduing all the passions, and that passion in particular
which chiefly predominates over our nature. It was not lawful for them
even to look in the face of a woman ; and they were impressed with
the belief that a single act of incontinence would erase . all the merits of
a life of devotion for a number of years. The Hindu books are filled
with instances of this kind. But as it is the fatality of their authors to
corrupt all narration by an intermixture of the wildest and most contra-
dictory fables, we shall find, tacked to a true story of a penitent who was
punished for not effectually controlling his desires, some wonderful and
highly embellished tale of his excesses, in voluptuousness of every
kind, committed by some devotee, and continued for thousands of
years ; and unaccountably supported, during that long period, in full
vigour, by the fervency of his devotion.

I shall not go into any long detail of the virtues of the Vanaprastha
Brahman. If, on the one hand, they cannot be considered as real and
genuine, upon the ground that they are not founded on the natural
feelings of humanity, but rather practised for ostentation and shew ; on
the other hand, we must allow that, whatever was the motive, they are
at least on a level with the virtues of the vaunted philosophers of Greece.
For they practised hospitality, and enjoined it so strongly upon others,
that the Brahmans, on going to their meals, were bound to look into
the street, to observe if any wretched wanderer stood in need of a mor-
sel. And it is still more remarkable that, in such a case, no distinction
was made between a friend and an enemy. I will not indeed avouch
that their practice always kept pace with morality so pure.

312 RUEES OF THE VANAFRASTHAS.

Their highest boast is their moderation in resenting the injuries which
they sufifer ; and they strongly inculcate upon others the duty of re-
straining the feeling of wrath. The ebuUitions of this passion in
themselves, which sometimes break out against the gods, they ascribe
rather to zeal than to anger, as they are never excited but by the con-
templation of the disorderly conduct and lascivious practices of those
celestial personages.

Yet, notwithstanding the purity of their principles on this topic» it is
certain that a small vexation serves to irritate them, and that they do
not well exemplify their own precepts. Their maledictions have be-
come formidable, because they may be incurred by a trifling fault ;
and because, though unjustly fulminated, they never fiul to take
efiect.

All the other virtues natural to man, such as compassion, humanity,
disinterestedness, liberality, were familiar to them. They taught them
to others by their discourse and their practice. From this, no doubt,
it must be assumed that the Hindus possess moral principles not dif--
ferent from ours, and that they are well acquainted with the duties
which men reciprocally owe to each other in civilized society.

( 313 )

CHAP. XXXI.

■

OF THE SACRIFICES OF THE ANCHORET BRAHHANS ; PARTICULARLY THE YAJNA.

X HE sacrifice most in use amongst the Vanaprasthas was that of the
Homamj so often mentioned ; and which was commonly performed by
producing :new fire from the flint, and casting upon it some boiled rice
and liquid butter, and pronouncing over it the appropriate Mantras.
This easy and simple sacrifice appears to have had the Fire for its ob-
ject, and to hav6 been generally offered up to the Sun, as being the
most obvious symbol of that element ; and occasionally to the whole
Heavenly bodies.

The penitents likewise offered to the gods several other sorts of sacri-
fices, all of them consisting of the simple productions of nature ; such
as flowers, rice, pulse, and various sorts of fruit. These sacrifices
were repeated every day, and occupied all the leisure they had after
their ablutions, their hours of meditation, and their contemplation of
Para-Brahma.

Although it appears certain, firom the perusal of the Hindu books,
that bloody sacrifices of animals were habitual to them in very remote
times; and although it be affirmed that they are required by the
Aiharvana Veda ; yet it does not appear that the Brahmans in person
lent their assistance to such sacrifices, by slaying the victims with their
own hands. These functions have always been devolved upon persons
of another cast. That of the Rajas, the next in rank to the Brahmans,
has not considered it beneath its dignity to exercise the office of sacri-
ficers. But, in more recent times, the Brahmans have always kept aloof
from sacrifices where blood was spilled ; and they assume no employ*
ment in temples where victims are slaughtered,

s s

gj4 SACRIFICES OF THE ANCHORETS.

The only case in which the Vanaprastha Br^imans, as Veil as those
of the present day, could possibly offer up a living victiffl^ is at the
sacrifice of the Yajna, at which a ram is immolated. But even
here, to testify their horror of blood, the animal offered '^ in
sacrifice is not slaughtered in the ordinary way, but crushed iMid
smothered.

This sacrifice is the most exalted and the most meritorious of all
that human beings can devise. It is the most grateful to the gods-
It calls down all sorts of temporal blessings, and blots out all the skis
that can have been accumulated for four generations. Nothing but
the unbounded benefits which it imparts could have surmounted the
horror which the Brahman feels at murder ; unless he be, in some
degree, supported by the arrogant feeling of having the exclusive
ri^t of offering this sacrifice, at which no man of any other cast can
bë present. They extend the privilege of contributing to the expence»
k must be allowed, very widely. • But, with every aid, this is so
enormous, on account of the numbers of Brahmans who assemble iron
all quarters, not so much to grace the solemnity, as to share in the
presents which he who presides is obliged to lavish amongst them,
that such sacrifices are but rarely attempted.

He who presides at them must select a ram, entirely white, and
without blemish ; of about three years old, well shaped, and fat. He
must also proclaim the day of the sacrifice through the whole district, and
invite the attendance of the Brahmans of the four Vedas. If any
one of the four should fail to be represented, the ceremony must
necessarily be put off. The Sudras, of whatever rank, are not per^
mitted to attend; and Brahmans themselves are excluded, when
affected by disease or infirmity, or when blind, lame, or labouring
under any other bodily defect ; as well as widowers not remarried. . , .

Every thing being prepared, the Purohita, after announcing the
favourable moment of the day for commencing, goes to the place of
assembly, attended by the concourse of Brahmans, sometimes amount*
ing to two thousand. As usual, they begin by digging a shallow trench5
t^ree or four feet square. The ground is then consecrated with
Mantras, and the sacrifice of the Homam ; the trench being half

SACRIFICES OF TIjiB ANCHORETS^ 3]^5

filial with dried wood of the jbUowinn species : the wood of tibe tree
Ravi or Arasuj of the Ali-maru^ the /cAir»iaram and the parm-mfxran.
These are all trees consecrated by the superstition of the country.
Dharba, the sacred grass, is also used in abundance; and the whole is
sprinkled with liquid butter, that they may the more easily be set
on fire. Every stage of the ceremonies is accompanied by the appro*
priate Mantras, which the Purohita pronounces with a loud voice,
while the attendants are responsive, irregularly, and with tumultuous
exclamation.

When the fire is properly kindled, the ram is conducted into the
H9(|dst of the assembly, after beii^ duly washed, and consecrated by
the service of Mantram* He is decorated with flowers and akshata»
the grains of rice dyed red. He is bound with cords made of Dharba»
the lacred grass, and Mantras are offered up, which are of a
nature to kill the ram, although their efficacy is somewhat aided by
stopping the ears, nostrils, and mouth of the animal. During this
process, several of the Brahmans assail him with heavy blows with
their fists, and one of them, by violent pressure of the knee on his
neck, chokes him outright If the animal, during these cruel tor- -
ments, find an interval to bleat, it would be hdd an evil omen.
The Furohita, all the while, recites his Mantras to accelerate the death
of the victim.

When the ram is dead, the chief of the Yajna opens the paunch, and
taking out the caul, holds it over the fire until the grease dissolves
and drops into the flame. Melted butt^ is likewise added, as an
appropriate libatiim to that element, serving to render it more
intense. ^

The carcase being scorched, is cut into small pieces, some of which
are soaked in butter and cast into the fire one i^er another. A part,
however, is preserved for him who presides at the sacrifice, and part
for him who is at the expence of it These share their portions with
the Brahmans who are present ; amougst whom a scuffle ensues, each
striving for a small bit of the flesh. Such morsels as they can catch
they tear with their hands, and devour as a sacred viand This

s s 2

316 SACRIFICES OF TH£ ANCHOBSTS.

practice is the more remarkable» as being the only occasion in their
lives when they can venture to touch animal foocL

The fire is then supplied with boiled rice and also with raw, but
cleaned and washed as if intended for being dressed. All being now
ended, each assistant receives his portion of betel, which had been laid
out in readiness around the fire of the Yajna, and is now chewed like
some hallowed dainty. Then he who is at the expence gives a splendid
entertainment to all the Brahmans present, and concludes the whole
by distributing money and apparel among all the Brahmans ; which,
on account of their great number, is a matter of large expence.

The president of this solemnity, who is by no means to be confounded
with the Furohita, who is merely the director of the ceremony, is
ever afterwards considered a person of consequence. He acquires by
it the right of keeping up a perpetual fire ; and when it is extinguished
by any accident, he rekindles it, not with sparks from a flint, but with
héat generated by the friction of one piece of wood against another»
When he dies, his funeral pile is lighted from that same fire ; which ia
extinguished only with his ashes.

I have not learned whether this famous sacrifice which at first
view seems to be ofiered solely to the fire, may not have a reference
to some particular divinity. But it appears probable that he who
conducts it is entitled to address it to any god he pleases, provided it
be one of the superior order. But, on the other hand, the fire of the
Yajna bears the appellation of Yajne%wara^ or the god fire ; and the word
Yajna is derived from Agni^ fire ; as if it were to this god that the
sacrifice were reaUy ofiered I need not point out the resemblance
between the word AgM and the Latin Ignu.

'This most renowned sacrifice, the most meritorious and efficacious
of all others, is one of. the six privileges of the Brahmans; who alone,
have the right to assist in it, while other casts are only admitted to
participate in the expence. It was more common amongst the Anchoret
Brahmans of old, than it is at present ; but at the same time, in those
ancient days, it was carried on in a way more simple, and exempt from
the extravagant expence which interested motives on one side, and
vanity on the other, have loaded it with in the present times.

SACRIFICES OF THE ANCHORETS. Q\^

The Great Sacrifice of the Yajna, which was still more famous, is
no longer in use. But I have been assured by persons of credit that,
towards the beginning of the last century, the King of Ambhir in Hin-
dustan, had it celebrated with all the pomp and expence which pertain
to it. His present to the Guru alone was a lac of rupees ; and the
Brahmans who attended, to the number, it is said, of twelve thousand,
all received gifts according to their rank and dignity.

The fabulous history of the Hindus commemorates, in numerous
passages, this sacrifice of the Orand Yajna and its powerfiil effects.
It was practised in its utmost splendour, by the Gods and the Giants,
when they warred against each other.

The effect of so high a sacrifice was to insure the certainty of victory
to those who practised it, over all their enemies ; and in this it never
failed, if the preparations and ceremonies were not imperfect.

The Brahmans flocked to it firom all quarters ; and the Prince, or
God, or Giant, to whom it belonged, could not reject the claim of any
one of them. They who know the nature of a Brahman may well
jiidge of the rate of the expence. I remember to have read somewhere
in a Hindu book, of an ancient King, who, on such an occasion, gave
away a bushel of pearls to each of the Brahmans present, who amounted
to thirty thousand !

At this sacrifice, every species of victim was immolated ; and it is
beyond doubt that human beings even were offered up. But the
horse and the elephant were the most common. Before the great
ceremony began, it was held necessary to make a long excursion, and to
go over a great tract of country, attended by a numerous army. The
Kings, Giants, or Gods, against whom the sacrifice was designed, came
in array against them with all their forces, and endeavoured to carry off
the victim by violence or stratagem. If they succeeded, the sacrifice
was at an end. The Prince, Giant, or God, who was preparing it, lost
all the advantages that he promised himself firom it ; and those against
whom it was directed were delivered firom the evils which would have
arisen firom its success. For, this terrible rite produced no less advan--
tage to those who succeeded in making it, than to render them always

318

SACRIFICES OF THE ANCHORETS.

victorious in battle^ and to throw an ^ichantment upon their arms by
which one mjwi was enabled to overthrow a whole army.

ft
I shall pass over the long ceremonies of the Grand Yajna^ having
been unable to procure an accurate account of them. But I will extract
firpm one of the Hindu books, a specimen of the innumerable fables
which they contain with respect to the virtue of thi3 sacrifice ; the more
particularly as it is the history of one of the metamorphoses of Vishnu.
<^ The Emperor Bali, the Giant, was performing this sacrifice ; and» if
<^ it had been accomplished, the whole of the Princes of India would have
^^ perished, and he would have been absolute lord of the country. Bût,
" before it took effect, Vishnu, the Preserver, descended fix)m his
^^ throne, and presenting himself before the tyrant, in the shape of a
^^ Brahman dwarf, entreated of him the humble boon of a bit of ground
<^ of the bigness of three printç of the sole of his foot, merely that he might
^^ sacrifice upon it. The Giant smiled at the request, and very readily
^^ granted it ; and immediately Vishnu, resuming'lds own mighty form,
^^ covered with one foot-step the whole earth ; with the second» all the
<< space that lies between the earth and the firmament. ^ And where»^
^^ he demanded, ^ shall I place the third ?' ^ On my head,' replied the
" Giant Bali ; who saw, too late, with whom he had to treat, yet be-
" lieved he might preserve his life by submitting to the discretion
<^ bf Vishnu. But the unrelenting god made his third step on the head
^< of Bali, and crushed it flat ; then hurled down to hell the monster
<^ who had been the oppressor of the earth."

(319 )

CHAP. XXXII.

OF THE GIANTS^ THB ADVERSARIES OF THE ANCHORETd.

X HE Vanaprastha Brahmans were exposed to great difficulties in the
accomplishment of their sacrifices, by the opposition of their declared
enemitô, the Giants. They were likewise frequently thwarted by the
Qods. Such opponents could render themselves invisible, by ascendr
ing into the skies, from whence they rained down lumps of flesh upon
the offerings of the unhappy Penitents ; by which they were altogether
profaned. In this manner they avenged themselves, in part, of the
jin^diments thrown in their way by the maledictions of those pious
men»

J should not have iittroduced Giants into this book, having other-
wise fables enough to grapple with ; were it not that they seem to have
been formed on the model of those that are mentioned in ^ Scripture,
and whose crimes were one great cause of the universal deluge which
overwhelmed the whole human race^ with the exception of eight per-
sons ; or of those in after times, under the name of Anakims, the race
of whom was wholly extirpated under the rule of Joshua, f

The Giants of India are represented to be of a size so enormous, that,
in order to wake one who had fallen asleep, they were obliged to make V.
several elephants walk over him at once ; and, even then, it was a long
time before he was sensible of their weight. The hairs of his body
were like the trunks of the largest trees. At one time, in a skirmish
with some Gods with whom he was at war» he fixed a rock upon each
hair, and advancing into the midst of his enemies, with a sudden twirl

* Gen. vi. 4. f Jo^us, xi. ?1, 22.

320 T^^ GIANTS.

of his body, he made the huge stones project around him, with such
fury, as to overwhelm them all.

The Giant Ravana, the same who ravished the wife of Rama, that
is to say of Vishnu personating that Prince, had ten heads. The palace
which he possessed in the island of Ceylon, of which he was King, was
so prodigiously lofty, that the Sun passed every day at noon under one
of the arches.

AU the Giants were extremely debauched, and of a very malevolent
disposition ; particularly those that were Brahmans: for some there
were of that cast, and they were the most wicked of all. They had
been transmuted into Giants, on account of their evil deeds when in
the condition of men. They were very numerous j whole armies o£
them being sometimes seen, who occasionally made war on each other»
but more frequently joined together in attacking the Gods ; who, in
many instances, have been subdued by those formidable opponents.

Sometimes they devoted themselves to an ascetic life, but with no
view of reformation. The Giant Rdsmeswara supported a life of peni-
tence so long as to compel Siva to grant him at last the power he had
long and earnestly solicited, of reducing to cinders all persons on whose
heads he might lay his hands. The ruffian was willing to make f;he
first experiment of this miraculous power upon Siva himself. The
hapless god knew not whither to fly from the pursuit of the giant.
But Vishnu, the Preserver, seeing his distress, came up to his relief,
and saved him, by artfully engaging the giant inadvertently to raise his
hand to his own head ; by which means he was consumed to ashes.
With stories like this the Hindu Mythology is filled.

It is probable that Noah and his sons related to their descendants
the history of the mighty giants whom they had seen before the flood ;
and that from their mouths the account was propagated; until the
Indian imagination, improving on the ancient traditions, created those
monstrous and extravagant fables which excite the wonder of the silly
vulgar and still command their belief.

With respect to the giants who were in hostility to the Brahmans, I
am led to believe that they were merely the chiefs of the people in the
neighbourhood of their hermitages, who woi^d sometimes take ofience.

THE GIANTS.

321

and annoy them in the perfonnance of their magical rites ; the effects
of which they were taught to dread. This is a feeling bot without ex-
ample amongst ourselves ; if we consider that, though not perhaps the
first of our philosophers, yet many of their successors, have been held
in dread, as being conversant in Occult science and dangerous necro-
mancy. Some feeling like this, no doubt, . it was that attended those
ancient Hermits of India, which rendered their malediction so terrible,
their wrath so awful ; and it would 4iaturally follow, that the fear of
falling under such a perilous influence would excite those around them,
both Kings and people, to league against them. And thus may have
been effectually extirpated those renowned Vanaprastha Brahman^ ; of
whom no vestige now remains. . .

It was a fit theme for some poet, in his fi*enzy, to describe their cour
tests with the neighbouring Euings and people, as a war with gigantic
enemies. And, whatever 'the imagination of the poet could invent,
there was credulity enough amongst the Hindus to devour»

( 322 )

CHAP. XXXIIL

OPINIONS OP THE HINDU PHILOSOPHERS ON THE NATURE OP GOD, OP THE DIP-
PERENT BEINGS IN THE UNIYERSB, AND PARTICULARLY THE 80UL.

X HE Vanaprastha Brahmans, or Ascetics, being bound, by their rules^
to devote a large portion of their leisure every day to the contempla*
tien of Para- Brahma ; it is not surprizing that they should have acquired
some tolerably pure notions of the Divinity ; unless, indeed, we are to
suppose they derived them, by direct tradition, from the early patri-
archs ; from whom they were not extremely remote. . It is only by the.
latter way that they can have mounted up to Melchisedech, to Job, to
Abraham, and many other celebrated personages who were near the era
of the flood.

^* God,'^ to use the words of the philosophers of India, " is an Im-
^^ material Being, pure and unmixed, without qualities, form, or divi-
^^ sion ; the Lord and Master of all things. He extends over all, sees
^^ all, knows all, directs all; without beginning, and without end.
" Power, strength, and gladness dwell with Him."

This is but a slight sketch of the lofty terms in which the Hindu writ-
ings, after their philosophers, describe the Para-Brahma or Supreme
Being. But it is painful to see these sublime attributes unworthily pro-
faned, by prostituting them to the false gods of the country, and blend-
ing them with innumerable other attributes, as ridiculous and absurd as
the fables to which they are attached.

The earliest of these philosophers, maintaining ideas of the Godhead
so pure, in all probability never strayed into the absurdities of polythe-
ism and idolatry. Their successors, however, adopted them by degrees,
and insensibly conducted the nation, whose oracles they were, into all
the extravagances in which we see them now involved. Hence we may

OPINIONS ON THE NATURE OF GOD. 333

conchide^ that the speculations of those spurious teachers have pre-
vailed no farther than to corrupt the purity of the inherent notions^ and
of regular tradition, respecting the nature and unity of Gk)d, as well as
the worship which was. paid to Him by those who flourished immediately
after the Deluge.

These philosophers soon separated into two parties, upon the nature
of Gk)d, and that of the universe. Up to the present times, each has
its numerous partisans. The first is called Dwitam^ the Sect of Two ;
that is to say those who hold the existence of two beings or substances^
namely, Grod, and the World, which He created, and to "which He is
united.

The other sect \% ^Bileà Adwitam ; not Two; meaning, those who
acknowledge but one being, one substance, one God.

The professors of the last doctrine designate the foundation of th^r
system by the two technical expressions Abhavana Bhavd-nmti : From
nothing nothing comes. Tliey maintain that Creation is an impossibility,
and that, on the other hand, a pre-existing and eternal substance is ab-
solutely chimerical. From these premises they infer, that, whatever
we imagine to be the universe, and the various objects which appear to
compose it, is nothing but a pure illusion, or Maya.

From the various tales which they have invented for illustrating their
system, I have selected the following : "

^< A man, in a dream, imagined that he was crowned King of a certain
^^ country, with ^eat pomp and many ceremonies. On waking, he
<< met a man who had just come from that country, and who related to
<^ him the whole circumstances of a King being chosen and crowned
<< there. His narrative agreed in all points with what the other had
" seen in vision. There was, therefore, no more reality in what the
^ one person believed that he had seen, than in what the other cer-
^^ tainly had dreamed. The illusion was equal with i^egard to both :
'* for that which we take to be a reality is nothing more than a decep-
^< tion from the Deity, the only being that exists: and the various
<^ things we behold are but appearances, or rather modifications of the
^ Divinity."

T T 2

324 OPINIONS ON THE NATURE OF 4300, AND

I know not whether ithese philosophers deduce from* their pernicious
system, all the consequences which haturalljr follow from it; Soméof
them I know have done so. I have read, in a Hiiidii book, wieK^
tract from the celebrated poem of thé Bhajrata^ the author of whick
introduces on the scene the god Siva, instructing his wife Parvaii^ in
familiar discourse He tells her plainly, ammigst other things, that the
most abominable crimes, such as adulteiy, fraud, and videnca are
mere sports in the eye of the Divinity.

In the system of Dwitam, which admits of two essences, Grod and
Matter^ our souls are nothing but a portion of the Divinity ; widch is
enveloped, as it were, by real objects, arid shaded by the various
passions which affect diose several substances, and^ are inherent in them.
The supporters of this last opinion try to explain it by the image of the
sun, which appeûs in many vessels of water, * all distinct from each
other ; or by an ingot of gold, from which various trinkets and veaseli
«re formed: while there ia but one sun and one ingot

The ordinary Brahmans, less learned, but more intelligent than those
of the cast who attach themselves to the controversies of Dwitaisi «id
Adwitam, acknowledge one Supreme Being, the author and creator of
the universe and of our souls. But they do not confound these created
things with God, by whom men are governed, punished, and rewarded,
according to the goodness or evil of their doings.

There is still another scheme of philosophy, which is utterly rejected
by the Brahmans, and is said to be followed and taught by the Jainas
and the votaries of Buddha. This system is nothing else than the pure
Materialism^ which Spinosa and his disciples have endeavoured to pass
for a new discovery of their own.' The materialists of India appear to
have long preceded them in this doctrine, and have drawn from it the
same practical deductions which their European brethren have done,
and which have been propagated in modem times with such pernicious
success.

Agreeably to this system, there is no god but matter; which,
separating into various masses, forms as many gods, according to some ;
and the whole forming but one god, according to others.

DIFFERENT BEINGS IN TUB tJNIVERJSB. 335

Thence they conclude that thece can be neither sin nor virtue, no
migration nor transmigration of souls; that after death, there is no
Swarga, or place of delight ; no Narakih or abode of torment The
truly wise man, according to them, is he who seeks after all the pleasures
af sense, and who believes in nothing that he does not see. All beyond
this is a chimera.

God, says a philosopher of this abominable school, possesdea four
Sakti or Faculties ; whidi are like so many wives. These are know-
ledge, desire, energy, and deception or illumon.

The body, in applying the first Sakti, which is Kntmhdge^ to*- its
whole senses at once, enjoys perfect pleasure. : It is but imperfect, if
the difiusion is limited to a part of them. From this partial extension
of knowledge proceed pain and sleep. Death is a total suspension
of the knowledge of the body regardkig its senses. It thus becomes
insensible and perishes. . '

It is to amuse and divert Himseflf with the pleasures of infancy, that
Grod creates his own ^substance into children, while at the same time
He is enjoying the varying gratificàti<Ml^ of maturity and age. Such,
in a few words, is the whole secret of the causes of thé cdnunetidetnent
of life, and of its close.

The second Sakti of the Divinity is Desire^ which changes with the
various impressions it receives. Grod is man, horse, dog, insect, or
in short whatever He wishes to be. His desire extends to each living
creature, and varies with the instinct of each individuals He is de-
lighted by enjoying what is adapted to the particular gratification of
each. »

But the Sakti of Denre unfortunately obscures that of knowledge^
and hinders it fi*om perceiving that there is no other deity but the
material body, propagation, life, and death. From this ignorant
deviation, occasioned by Desire^ the inclinations of men are derived;
such as the affection of a mother for her children, and the pains she takes
in rearing them. The truly wise man, who would acqube the enlightened
knowledge of truth and nature, must therefore renounce desire.

The third Sakti is Energy^ upon which these pretended philosophers
speak stm more mysteriously.

32g OPINIONS ON THB NATURE OP G0D, AND

Ail the universe, according to them, lay in confusion. Men Ir
without subordination, without laws or casts. To remedy this mighty
disorder, a general consultation of bodies was held. Energy proposed
to them the following scheme : " let us collect,'' quoth she, " from all
" bodies, whatsoever is found most excellent in each. From such
^< materials I will form a complete man, who, by the union of beauty,
« wisdom, and strength, shall make himself master of the whole
" earth, and become its only King. I shall be his spouse ; and from
« our marriage shall spring bodies innumerable, each more perfect
^^ than another.'* The project was approved, and carried into efiect
It fully succeeded ; and from the body of the wife of a Brahman^
called Sutadana, was -bom the god Buddha ; a being, incomparable
in all perfections ; who has promulgated laws, the transgression of
which is the most heinous sin^^ No iniquity can be more enormous
than to deny Buddha to be what he is. He who acknowledges him, is
the true Bauddhist, a Brahman indeed ; the Guru among Brahmans.
His own body is his only god. To his body alone he offers up sacrifice.
He procures for himself all possible enjoyments ; he has no dread of
any thing ; he eats indiscriminately of all food. He scruples not to
lie, in order to attain the objects of his wish. He acknowledges
neither Vishnu nor Siva, nor any other god but himself.

^^ But, as all individuals are so many deities, or rather modifica-
^< tions of the same god, why are they not all endowed with the same
" talents and equal penetration ? Why are the greater part devoid of
^^ sublime intelligence?" Such was the objection started by a new
proselyte to on^ of the sages of the sect. His answer was, that " the
" evil entirely proceeded from the fourth Sakti called Maya or
^^ Bludon. It is the cause of all deception, and makes men take what
<< is false for what is true. It has misled men into a belief that there
^^ are gods ; that there are such vicissitudes as living and dying,
^< pollution and purification. The only means of shunning the errors
" of Maya is to cling to the doctrines of Bauddhism."

The author of the Tanira Sastra^ from whom I have borrowed this
exposition of the system, proceeds next to explain creation, and
to make us comprehend how (rod, united to Maya, should have

DIFFERENT BEINGS IN THE UNIVERSE, ' 827

produced men differing so greatly in their inclinations. But what he
advances could only have proceeded from an extravagant imagination, .
and is no more worthy of attention than the talk of a sick man who is
deprived of his reason by delirium.

He then returns to the principles and doctrine as above described;
He sneers at the Brahmans for their ablutions, fasts, penitence", sacri-
fices, mantras, vedas. The true veda, he exclaims, is for a man to
please himself, to procure all sensual enjoyments, to take vengeance
upon an enemy, and pursue him to death ; to disclaim all sentiment of
humanity, and to think only of his own advantage.

It is not wonderful that persons, who promulgate doctrines likethese^
diiould have created enemies to themselves ; or that the Brahmans, in
particular, should be at open war with a sect that sets their principles
so completely at defiance.

But the most odious part of this detestable doctrine is the gravity
with which it inculcates the renunciation of all natural feelings, such as
filial piety, compassion for the distressed, and similar propensities;
which they sometimes denounce as sinful.

In tracing the course of this system, we encounter the history of a
certain King, who scarcely ever lefl the apartments of his wives ; but
notwithstanding condemned to death a man whose crime was the prac-
tice of humanity and of charity towards his fellow-creatures.

Nevertheless, I doubt whether the genuine Bauddhists would avow such .
horrid doctrines ; and I rather believe the calumny must have been in-
vented by some envious Brahman, for the purpose of casting odium on a
sect for which his cast entertains the most implacable hatred.

While employed in writing these pages, I am in. the midst of a dis-
trict, where there are great numbers of Jainas or followers of Buddha;
and, aflei: much enquiry into their character and conduct, I can assert
that, in the practice of the moral virtues, they are not beneath the level
of other Hindus ; and that, in good faith, in probity, and disinterested-
ness, they far. surpass their antagonists the Brahmans.

I can also recognise in the present description of the system in ques-
tion, the bias of some Hindu philosophers, which always prompts them,
to extremes, in their theories as well as in their actions.

328 OPINIONS ON TUE NATURE OF GOD./

One prominent cuatom amongst them is, never to yield to their taste
or appetite in eating or drinking ; but to habituate themselves to the
most nauseous aliments.

They must elevate themselves above the prejudices of the vulgar, and
always pursue,, in their conduct and mode of thinking, a course opposite
to that of others.

They hold it improper to give themselves up to sensual pleasures in
this present world, in which the desires of the body must be suppressed
by mortifying penance.

At any rate, it must be admittedt that, if the Bauddhists actually hold
the odious and detestable tenets Which are asoibed to them,' in the re-
ports which we have here abridged; these have no visible influence oa
theil* behaviour, or the slightest effect in relaxing the social ties which
bind them, equally with other casts, to the great stock of society. What*
ever is peculiar to their order they abstain from making public, by writ-
ing or in act; and this reserve, which. is still continued, is probably
occasioned by the memory of ancient persecution, which has at length
softened down a rugged and pernicious sy4}tem into a harmless theme
of speculation.

( 329 )

CHAP. XXXIV.

ON THE INFLUENCE OP PENITENCE IN PURIFYING THE SOUL; AND ON PURIFI-
CATION BY FIRE.

X HE doctrine of the Ascetic philosophers was, that Retirement should
dissipate the clouds of Illusion which lead us astray, and break the
chains which unite us too closely with the created beings that surround
us ; as well as with our own evil passions, which entangle, depress and
pollute the soul. Being thus set free, it rejoins the Divinity, even Para*
Brahma ; and the penitent now cleansed from the stains of guilt which
defile other men, can boldly exclaim ^^ Behold a Brahman ! I am wholly
" divine : I am Brahma !''

Men, whom a vain philosophy has beguiled into this ecstatical pride,
cannot fail to look upon all other mortals with contempt ; as wretches
whose accumulated pollution and sins require the revolution of gener-
ation after generation to expiate.

This pride was farther inflamed by the marks of attention, or rather
of adoration, which the greatest Princes lavished upon them ; and
which they accepted with absolute coolness, or in a manner which
shewed that they considered the honoiir as not more than their due.

After this, one ceases to wonder at the behaviour of one of these
philosophers called Mandanis ; who, according to Strabo, refrised to
visit Alexander the Great, when he sent for him, and even wrote a
haughty epistle to that sovereign. He was no doubt à Vandprustha
Brahman, and doubtless he shewed great condescension in taking the
trouble to write to any one. But, if the letter of this Hindu philoso-
pher, as preserved by Strabo, be not a forgery, at least it is certain
that, by paraphrasing and tricking it out in fine Greeks it is so

u u

330 GYMNOSOPHISTS OR NAKED SANNYÂSTS.

guised that, I venture to say, it never came out of the hands of a Hindu
Muni or Rishi in that shape. *

But, how did this penitence or purification operate upon the Ancho-
ret, in his solitary state ? It operated in three ways ; by subduing the
passions, by the habit of contemplation, and by the mortification of the
body. By the first, they pretended not only to eradicate the three great
propensities before-mentioned, as relating to land, money, and women ;
but also to extirpate all ordinary prejudices, concerning casts, distinc-
tions and honours. Their wish was to extinguish the most natural feel-
ing», and even the instincts implanted in us by nature for our preserv-
ation. They required of their disciples to be insensible to heat and cold,
to wind and rain ; and to eat, without reluctance, not only the most
offensive and disgusting scraps, but even things of which nature herself
shews her utmost abhorrence. They called this discipline by the name
of Moksha SadhaJcamy or Exercise of Deliverance. In many respects,
then, they were more Stoical than Zeno, and more Cynical than Dio-
genes himself* •

It is probable, at the same time, that the great number of the solitary
Brahmans did not enter into these extremes, but left them to be prac-
tised by some enthusiastical penitents of an inferior order ; although it
cannot be disputed that their rules led implicitly to all the excesses that
have been mentioned.

Even at the present time there are pretended penitents, who teach
tad practise the detestable Moksha Sadhakam. Some of them go en-
tirely naked, and affect, by that evidence, to shew that they are insen-
sible to the passion that has the most powerful influence over men, and
that the objects most capable of exciting it have no influence whatever
Upon them.

• Many of these naked Sannyasis are still met with about the country,
to whom the Greek authors gave the name of Gymnosophists. Theyall ex-
ercise the profession of mendicity ; and under the appellation of Sannyusis
ace mere vagabonds, without house or habitation. Though completely
naked, no appearance of any throb or involuntary motion is ever seen in

* Sti'obo, Geog. XV. He is called Dandamis by Arrian and Plutarch.

GYMNOSOPHISTS OR NAKED SANNYÂSIS. 331

parts of the body, over which the will has often but little control.
Sights the most apt to produce excitement, appear to make no im-
pression on this race of knaves. The multitude who are unacquainted
with the means by which this control has been acquired, and who be-
lieve them to be out of the reach of passion, hold them in great
admiration. And the European authors, who are not much better in-
formed, have ascribed this power of restraint to cooling medicines;
of which, according to them, they make constant use for the purpose of
deadening their feelings. But the utmost austerity of living is not
likely, of itself, to make them so callous to the impressions which
affect the senses, and irresistibly influence that animal affection which
these penitents boast that they have subdued. But, so far from their
leading an austere and regulated life, I can testify that, they are, of all
Hindus, the most intemperate ; eating publicly, and without shame^
all sorts of meat, and immoderately using strong liquors and intoxicating
drugs. These transgressions are imputed to them as nothing. They
are Sannyasis ; and the use of the Moksha Sadbakam, which they are
supposed to practise under those circumstances, exempts them from
all blame.

The real means employed for producing the quiescence alluded to
are quite mechanical. Before venturing to exhibit themselves, they
attach a heavy weight, so as to swing between their feet towards the
ground. This is augmented from time to time, and they drag it about
with so gTeat an effort, that the muscles are deracinated, or so weakened
as no longer to be capable of their functions. Such I have been
positively assured, is the sole cause of the famous inertia in the
Gymnosophists or naked Sannyàsis of India.

Others amongst them boast of haying conquered Natural feelings of
another kind ; * and they give horrible proofs of it, by eating human
excrements, without shewing the slightest symptom of disgust. The
stupid Hindu, who is never tickled but, by extremes of some sort- or
other, looks at the fanatic with admiration, and feels nothing but
respect and reverence.

Contemplation fills up the outline sketched by the mortification of
the passions, by replenishing the soUl with thoughts of the Divinity,

u u 2

332

PURIFICATION BY FIRE.

and re-uniting it to that first being from whom it emanated, and of
whom it is a part. ^This re-union is not efiected all at once, but by
several degrees, as will be explained under the head of the Sannyasis.
It is to bring about, by little and little this happy union, that! the
Vanaprastha is obliged, by his rules, to devote a considerable portion of
his time every day to contemplation.

The third degree of perfection consisted in the mortification of the
body ; by which was understood, not only that hard and austere mode
^f living, which every one must lead who aspires to perfection ; but
also frequent bathing, according to the usages. These philosophers
confounded the pollution of the body with that of the soul, and were
persuaded that they reciprocally passed into one another ; and therefore
they believed that the bath, by cleansing the body, had also the virtue
to purify the soul. This was more particularly the case when it was
performed in the Ganges, or any of the other rivers which superstition
had rendered famous.

The little that now remained to complete the work of purification
was accomplished by Jire. It was for this reason that all the devotees
were burned after death. Their obsequies were attended only by the
solitary Brahmans, their companions ; and were in the same taste a^
those we have formerly described ; though much less protracted than
those of the ordhiary Brahmans. It could not indeed be supposed that
they should stand so much in need of purificatory ceremonies, after
renunciation of the world, the gloomy life they had led in the deserts,
and their continued labour of purification during the whole course of
their existence.

But, the uttermost perfection of purity was only to be attained by
terminating their earthly course byj/2re, and ofiering themselves alive on
the burning pile. Strabo relates the history of the Brahman CalamiSj in
which there is nothing improbable ; who exhibited this spectacle before
the whole army of Alexander. At the same time, I do not believe that
examples of this kind were frequent among the Vanaprasthas. I re-
member but one instance in all the Hindu books I have perused or
heard read ; which was of an ascetic and his wife. Both were advanced

PURIFICATION BY FIRE. 333

in years ; and they joined together in erecting the funeral pile ; seated
themselves very quietly upon it, set fire to it themselves, and were
consumed together. After the highest degree of purification which
liuman beings can reach, their souls were speedily reunited to the
Divinity, without the slightest danger of being called upon to revisit
the earth.

Such were the melancholy and deplorable effects of the Hindu
superstition, and of the chimerical notions of their most enlightened
philosophers.

Calanus was undoubtedly one of the Vanaprasthas. Certainly he
could not have had the education and the manners of the Greeks ; and
that was a sufficient reason with that vain nation to treat him as a
barbarian. Cicero, who has copied this story frotn the Greek historians,
treats him in the same manner *. But it may be reasonably doubted
that he was not so ignorant a man as the great Roman imagines;
although at the same time, I do not pretend that our Vanaprastha had
any knowledge of Grecian mythology, as Cicero seems to suppose, or
that he chose the manner of his death in imitation of that off Hercules;
a name which probably he had never heard of.

What Cicero mentions of Calanus being born at the foot of the
Caucasus, confirms what I have already said concerning the origin of
the Brahmahs ; and tends to shew, that the discoveries made at the
time of the invasion by Alexander, at a period so near the establish-
ment of these philosophers in India, are evidence of their deriving their
descent from the environs of that famous mountain.

* Calanus Indus, indoctus ac barbarus, in radicibus Caucasi natus, sua Yoluntate viras
combustus est. Tusc ii. 22.

f Est profecto quiddam etiam in barbaris gendbus pra^entiens atque divinans : siquidem
ad mortem proficiscens Calanus Indus, cum adscenderet in rogum ardentem, O prseclarum
discessum, inquit, é vita, cum, ut Herculi contigit, mortali corpore cremato, in lucem
animus excesserit ! Cumque Alexander eum rogaret, si quid vellet, ut diceret : Optima
inquit ; propediem te videbo. Quod ita contigit. Nam, Babylone^ paucb post diebus,
Alexander est mortuus. Divin, i. 23.

( 334 )

CHAP. XXXV.

OF THE LEARNING OF THE SOLITARY BUAHMANS AND OF THE EPOCH OF THE FLOOD.

Xl A VING already treated on the devotion, and the moral and philoso-
phical system of the Vanaprasthas, it would be now proper to consider
the learning or science to which they were addicted. But what has been
elsewhere said on the sciences of the Brahmans in general, applies so
nearly to those of the devotees, that it is unnecessary to repeat it.
There are two sciences, however, the one useful and the other
pernicious, to which they in a particular manner apply themselves ;
namely, astronomy and magic I have already given my reasons for
not entering minutely into the former ; but it is so connected with
the epoch of the universal deluge, an event famous through all the
world, and the point from which they date their astronomical calcula-
tions, as well as their commercial and ordinary eras ; , that I shall detail
a few of the principal notices which the ancient Vanaprastha Brahmans
have transmitted to us on this subject. They have been treated very
superficially by such authors as have come in my way.

They recognize four ages of the world ; to which they give the
name of Yuga. They attribute to each of these, a duration, which
would extend that of the world to several millions of years.

The first is called Satya-yuga^ or the age of innocence^ which
they prolong to 1,728,000 years. The second, which they call Treta-
yuga^ lasted about a fourth part less than the preceding, or 1,296,000
years. The third, called Dwapara-yuga, continued for one-third
less than the second, or 864,000 years. And the last, in which we
now live, and which is called Kali-yuga^ or the age of misery ^ will

LEARNING. gg^

endure one half less than the third, and will consequently amount only
to 432,000 years.

This, last age commences with the epoch of the Hindu deluge; and
the year of the Christian era, 1805, in which I am now vriting thèse
pages, corresponds to the year 4906 of the Kali-yuga.

I imagine it will not be necessary to attempt proving to reasonable
persons that the three first of these ages are fabulous. The Hindus
themselves seem to regard them in that light ; since, in the affairs of
life, they make no mention of these yugas ; and all their calculations
and dates, as well as the most ancient monuments, and the most authen-
tic that are found among them, take their origin from the commence-
ment of the Kali-yuga.

This pretension to high antiquity is a chimera which has been pur-
sued by every nation, as they sank into idolatry, and, forgetting the tra-
ditions of their ancestors, believed they could add to their glory, by
seeking an origin high and remote. It is well known how far the
Chinese, the Egyptians, and the Greeks pushed their claims in this re-
spect. But no ancient people has advanced higher in this career of
ambition than the Hindus j who, carrying every thing to excess, must
even remove to an inconceivable distance the creation of the world.

At the close of each of the yugas which they admit, a revolution
in nature took place, so universal, that not a vestige of it subsisted in
that which followed. The gods themselves have had their share in the
general change. Vishnu, who was white in the last revolution, is be-
come black in the present.

It is therefore clear that the commencement of the true era of the
Hindus, that is to say the Kali-yuga, in which we now live, must as-
cend very nearly to the epoch of the universal flood ; an event most
distinctly marked by the Hindu authors, who give it the name of
Jala-pralayam^ or water deluge.

The author of the Bhagavata gives a very clear and detailed account
of this deluge, which covered the whole surface of the earth. It is said
in this book, one of the most ancient and famous of any which the Hin-
dus acknowledge that the Jala-pralayam, or universal inundation of
water, swept off all mankind, with the exception of the seven famous

3S6 LBARNING.

Rishis or Penitents ; who, with their wives, were saved &om the total
ruin of the human race, by means of a ship, into which Vishnu made
them embark, and of which he himself became the pilot.

Besides this narrative in the Bhagavata, frequent allusions to the Jaiar
pralayam are found in several authors ; some of whom add, -that, be-
sides the seven pénitents, who embarked in the ship provided by Vishnu,
there was also preserved in it Manu^ who appears to be the great
Noah himself

I believe that the universal flood is not n^ore clearly announced in
any ancient writings whatever, that have alluded to it, nor described ia
a manner more close to the recital of Moses, than in the Hindu book
to which we have referred.

Thus a concurrent testimony of this remarkable epoch is afiPorded us,
whose antiquity cannot be called in question ; by the only people, per-
haps, on earth, which has never been humbled into a state of barbarism,
and whose territory, from its situation, cliniate, and fertility, must have
been settled amongst the earliest of all ; a nation which, perhaps, above
all others, has been rigidly attached to its rites ; and in whose customs
no considerable change has been ever known. That nation, in its civil
institutions, dates always from the epoch of the abatement of the
flood. It appears, in its civil and popular intercourse, to have entirely
rejected its other fabled ages, and to cling solely to this ; since, as we
have shewn above, all the eras promulgated in public, take their source
from the commencement of the Kali-yuga, that is, the precise period
of the flood. Every public and private act bears that it is done on such
a year of its cycle of sixty years j and it expresses exactly, how many
such cycles have elapsed from the deluge downwards. How many facts
çoiïnected with historical truth are considered to be immutably fixed,
which have not nearly so solid a foundation as this ?

Another very remarkable circumstance is, that their manner of reck-
oning the age of the world expressly agrees with what we have in
Scripture : " And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year,
" in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried
^' up from o^ the earth." So saith >;he Scripture (Gen. viii.) ; and so
the fundus compute ; by such a day of a given month, in a certain

CHRONOLOGY. 337

year ; numbering the cycle, and reckoning from the commencement of .
the Kali-yugam.

In the passage above cited, it is no doubt the epoch of Noah's birth
that is in question. He was then entering into his six hundreth and
first year. But, to say nothing of the opinion of several chronologists,
thjt Noah's birth-day fell on the same day of the year that the world
commenced upon, bating the six days of creation j it appears, that,
in times immediately succeeding the deluge, the Scriptures reckon only
by the years of this patriarch ; and that the anniversary of his birth
commemorated to men the day on which the earth was restored to them :
a memorable day, forming the epoch from which they were thenceforth
to date the years of the renascence of the earth.

A thousand revolutions occurring, in dark ages, amongst other ancient
nations ; some alterations in figures, which there is reason to suspect in
the holiest of all books, with other causes, have obscured that just cal-
culation which the Hindus alone, seated in a land which was exempt
from the troubles that agitated other countries, have to this day been
enabled to preserve.

Besides their civil Cycle of sixty years, they have also adopted one of
ninety ; which is used only in astronomical calculations. They both
commence from the same epoch, that of the cessation of the flood, or
beginning of the Kali-yugam. It may be questioned, however, whether
the astronomical Cycle be of the same antiquity as the civil ; and it
may be well 3upposed that the astronomers, having arisen after the es-
tablishment of the nation, made it to accord with that which they found
already established, and that they could not, or durst not, change it.
They likewise saw that the two modes of calculating could never occar-
sion the least confusion ; because, in every third succession of the Cycles,
they started together afresh.

The Hindu astronomers admit into their calculations another epoch,
still more modem ; as it commences only about the middle of the first
century of the Christian era. It is called the Salivahana epoch, because
it takes its date from the death of a famous King of India of that name,
who reigned in a province called Sagam.

.XX

338 CHRONOLOGY.

The Chinese likewise have a civil Cycle, of sixty years, in common
with the Hindus ; but there is this difference between thjB two races^
that the Chinese are ignorant of any relation which their era bears to
that of the flood. It is hardly to be imagined that the two nations
could have communicated with eaeh other, seeing that they do not
agree in the computation. For, according to some authors who have
written on the affairs of China, the birth of our Saviour falls on the
fifty-eighth year of the Chinese Cycle, while it coincides with the forty-
second of the Cycle of the Hindus. This at least confirms the antiquity of
the Cycle of sixty years still in use with the two most ancient races of
people on the face of the earth.

It would be useless perhaps to inquire whether this Cycle was insti-
tuted before the flood, and whether it be from Noah or hiS immediate
descendants that the Hindus have derived it. All that We know for
certain is, that the weekly Cycle was instituted and acted. upon before
that famous epoch, and that the Hindu week agrees exactly with that
of the Hebrews and with ours. The days of their week correspond pre-
cisely with those of ours, and are numbered just in the same way.

But what is peculiar to them is that, in the same manner as every
day of the week and every month of the year has its particular name,
so has each of the sixty years of the Cycle. Thus, they do not say that
a certain event happened on the twentieth or thirtieth year of the Cycle;
but they give the year its name, and say that it happened in the year
Krodhie^ the year Viswam^ the year Pingala^ and so forth.

The only solid difiiculty which remains unexplained in the Hindu
computation with regard to the flood, is to ascertain whether it corre-
sponds with that of the Bible.

I reply to this, that, though some discrepancy may be observed be-
tween the two, it is not of consequence enough to produce any serious
doubt respecting the event to which both of them relate.

Let us take into our consideration, for example, that there is a difler-
ence of more than nine hundred years between the period supposed to
have elapsed between the flood and the birth of Christ, as it stands on
the authority of the version of the Septuagint, and on that of the Vul-
gate. Neither of these calculations is wholly rejected, and both of them

CHRONOLOCfY. 339

iiave able çhrpnologists for supporters. The Catholic church, which
adheres to the Vulgate for the Old Testament, adopts the calculation
of the Seventy for the Roinw Martyrology» which is read every day in
the church service.

The dijSerence, therefore, between the Hindu calculation axkl ours
does not appear a sufficient reason for our rejecting it, or even for our
supposing that it does not proceed from the same source.

According to the Hindu calculation, the time elapsed between the
Jala-pralayam, or Deluge, and the birth of Jesus Christ, is three thou-
sand and one hundred and two years. This period does not at all cor-
respond with the calculation drawn from the Vulgate, as there is the
wide difference between them of about seven hundred and fifty years.
But it approaches much nearer to the calculation made in the Septuagint,
which gives a space of three thousand two hundred and fifty-eight years
between the Deluge and the commencement of the Christian era. If
we conform to this last calculation, the epoch of the Hindu Jala-pralayam,
does not differ from that of the deluge of the Scripture more than one
hundred and fifty-six years.

A discrepancy to this extent, in so intricate a computation is so far
from affecting the credibility of the event, that the Hindu epoch, on the
contrary, serves to confirm that of the Scripture, and adds incontejstable
evidence to that most important event, the universal deluge.

Some modern chronologists, at the head of whom stands the learned
Toumemine, who have taken their calculation from the Vulgate, have
found between the Deluge and the Christian era,, a period of three
thousand two hundred and thirty-four years ; and they have supported
their system upon solid grounds. In adopting their opinion, we have
a variation of only one hundred and thirty-two years between the Hindu
computation and that of Scripture ; a difference of the less importance
that the authors of this system give it only as conjectural, and with the
view of reconciling the Septuagint with the Vulgate.

It is not at all to be imagined, that the flood of Deucalion should ap-
proach so near the true one as that of the Hindus does. The learned
place it so near the birth of Jesus Christ, that it can in nowise have been
borrowed from the scriptural flood, or intended to denote the same

X X 2

340

CHRONOLOGY.

event That of Ogyges, though long anterior to the deluge of Deuca-
lion^ is nevertheless posterior by more than thirteen hundred years to
the Jaiorpralayam of the Hindus, if we allow» with the best chronolo-
gists, that it preceded the Christian era only about seventeen hundred
and ninety years. It must thence be concluded, that, in reality, it was
merely a considerable inundation in a particular country. The' same
observation equally applies to that of -Deucalion, if, in fitct, it be not
wholly fabulous.

( 341 )

CHAR XXXVL

OF THE MAGIC PRACTISED BY THE VANAPRASTHA BRAHMANS, AND STILL IN USE

AMONG THE HINDUS.

JL HE secrets of Magic are taught in several Hindu books^ and parti-»
cularly in that of the four Vedas, which bears the name of Atkarvana
Veda. The Brahmans assert, and wish to have it believed, that this
Veda is not in existence; being desirous to avoid the àuspicion of
being initiated in the pernicious science which it teaches. But this
assertion is the less to be believed, because books of this sort are sure to
be preserved, in preference to all others, in an idolatrous country.

Another motive which induces the Brahmans to keep this book con-
cealed is that bloody sacrifices of living victims, human not excepted^
are there prescribed as part of the magical ceremonies which it teaches,
as well as of the worship of the Bhutas or Demons which it enjoins.

The Brahman Devotees were accustomed to study these Vedas, and
particularly that of the Atharvana. We have had occasion to remark
elsewhere, that their sacrifices frequently bore a great resemblance to
magical operations ; and the power which such sacrifices were supposed
to possess over the Gods themselves, makes it extremely probable that
those who practised them were conversant in the mysteries of that
pernicious art.

We have also mentioned that the Solitary Brahmans, at first cherished
and respected by the Kings and their people, became at last detestable
to all their neighbours, on account of the terror which their malediction
and their magical sacrifices inspired ; and that this was probably the
real c^use which united against them the Princes in the vicinity of

342 MAGIC.

their retreats, who at last extirpated that sect of philosophers ; so that
no vestige of them now remains.

There is no reason, therefore, to doubt that the Brahmans in the
remotest times, have been conversant in all the mysteries of the art of
magic. They still give it a place in the table of their sciences j and
indeed it holds a high rank among the sixty four-divisions which they
arrogate to belong exclusively to themselves. It is no less certain that
many of them dabble in magic to the present times, and are publicly
known to be initiated in all the secrets of the Occult art.

There still exist, in all the casts, numbers of persons, who pretend
to be skilled only in some one of the many branches of magic, such
as that of divination, augury, and other branches of the science which
imply nothing of a p^*nicious tendency. It is not to be wandered at
that in a country like India, plunged in the thic^ darkness of gross
idolatry, and of every sort of superstition, impostors should abound,
who find theb interest in promoting such abuses. In every quarter,
tellers of good fortune are to be found, who will distribute good luck
to those who are willing to pay for it Brahmans, and even Pariahs^
called VaiufoeTy announce the good and the evil days, &vourable and
inauspicious omens, tell fortunes, by observing the features of the face
Or the lines on the palm of the hand : and those who exercise this
profession are consulted by incredible numbers.

But these common soothsayers are by no means dreaded, or held
in fear ; while those who are understood to be initiated in the pro-
found mysteries of magic, or such as possess the art to detect robberies,
and the most secret crimes, to cure diseases, or to bring them on,
to infuse a devil into the body of any one, or to expel him, and to
produce other similar effects of supernatural influence, are looked upon
with horror and awe.

Those pretenders to real magic are often consulted by persons who
wish to avenge themselves of some enemy by way of malediction ; and
also by sick persons, who are persuaded that their disease has been
caused by some magical operation directed against them, and who
would gladly recover their health by a counteracting art, able to repel
the malady and return it upon those from whom it proceeded. ^

MAGIC. g^

I bdieve that a better notion of the art cannot be given, than by
offering a short notice of a Hindu book, called Agrushada Parikski
which has fallen into my hands, and which perhaps few Europeans
have yet heard of. What I have to report, I believe, will give but
little insight into the magical art ; but may prove interesting to those
who are desirous of understanding and comparing the practices of the
various ancient people on this subject.

I compress into three heads the doctrines of this book.

1. What is the aim of the magician, and how far does his power
extend ?

2. What means does he employ to succeed in his operations ?

3. What has he himself to dread in his magical practices ?

As to the first, there is no sort of good or evil which the m^ician
will not undertake to produce ; although he is more inclined to the
evil. There is no species of malady which he does not pretend to be
able to cure: fever, dropsy, retention of urine, pain in the whole
members, fatuity, madness, and all other disorders. But all this is
nothing compared to the energy with which he denounces the de-
struction of an enemy's army besieging a place, the death of thi^
commander of the besieged fortress, and the inhabitants it contains. •

The Moors in India, being equally superstitious as the natives of
the coufltry, are no less infatuated with the notion of magic. I knew,
from the best authority, that the last Musalman Prince who reigned '
in the Mysore, the fanatical and superstitious Tippu, in his last war,
in which he lost his kingdom and his life, resorted tp the most
celebrated magicians he could find in his own country and elsewhere,
trusting that, by the operation of their art, the English army, which
was then marching to besiege his capital, and which he could . not
expect to rqpel by ordinary means, might be destroyed* The magi-
cians whom he consulted on this occasion, acknowledged their im-
potence, and were obliged to confess that their operations, so , potent
amongst other races of men, were utterly inefficient against the
Europeans.

But if magic teaches the means of drawing down evil, it msIso
affords, by counter-spells, not only a defence against imminent peril,

344 MAGIC.

but the power of causing the pernicious effects of sorcery to recoil . on
the heads of those by whom it is meditated.

The magicians are likewise provided with many Antidotes against
witchcraft, which they distribute among those who consult them.
There are certaiqi enchanted beads ; some sorts of roots ; very thin
plates of copper, on which extraordinary figures are engraved, with
inexplicable words and unknown characters ; amulets, also, of various
kinds ; all which are worn by the Hindus, to serve as talismans, and
to preserve them from every species of incantation.

Secret methods of inspiring love are likewise understood by the
professors of the magical art ; and this is not the least lucrative part
of their trade. A wife or a mistress resorts to them eagerly, in quest
of a spell to restrain the husband or lover from deviating into other
amours. Debauched gallants and lewd women consult them on the
means of seducing the object of their passion.

In the book which I am now describing, I was surprized to meet
with Incubus Demons. Those of India are not quite the same in their
practices as the beings of that nature in Europe, which some country
people still believe in. In India they exceed so much in the fierceness
aad firequency of their attacks on women, whom they haunt in the
shape of a dog, or some other brute, that the harrassed female dies
in consequence. A superstitious people takes dreams for realities j
and it would be in vain to attempt to convince a Hindu that these
are not operations of the devil.

But the great subject of the work is the means of communicating
enchantment to the arms used in war. Enchanted armour is cele-
brated in all Hindu writings. The gods in their wars, constantly
made use of it. One weapon was called the arrow of Brahma, and
that was never shot without effect. Another was named after the
serpent Capella, which, when launched against an army^ lulled to
sleep the whole troops that composed it. To the present day, those
who have weapons charmed by magical sacrifices, bid defiance to
wounds in battle. Cannon balls and musket shot levelled against
|;hem become harmless, and tumble at their feet. Cutting instruments

cannot penetrate âieir skiri^ but bend or break when directed against
them.

« The book likewise reveals secrets for obtaining all sorts of temporal
blessings, and wealth unbounded. It abo points out some which have
the virtue to make barren women conceive. Generals and soldiers may
be provided with» certain bits of bone, which will not only render them
invulnerable, but make them appear terrible in battle. There are also
enchanted drugs, which, when rubbed on the face and eyes, will enable
them to discover concealed treasure. But I find no secret to insure
immortality ; which I rather wonder at, as the Hindu Charlatanry does
not generally stick at trifles.

The next question relates to the means used by the magician to insure
success to his incantations.

In Europe, as long as the belief in magical arts subsisted, it was un«
derstood that their virtue depended on a compact entered into with the
evil spirits. But, in India, it is sufficient for the practitioners to receive
a few lessons in the art fi*om their masters ; whom they thenceforth
style their Gurus. If, upon experiment, the disciples give any orders
to a demon, spirit, or god, and these are disregarded ; they have only
then to command obedience, in the name of their masters, and instantly
their orders are executed.

In using the word Gods on this occasion, the very highest even are
to be understood, Brahtna, Vishnu, Siva, being as much under the con-
trol of the magicians as the inferior deities. Some indeed are called
upon, in preference to others, when something evil is to be invoked
upon any one. The Planets are of this class. Their name Grakana^
which signifies the cu^t of seizing, points out their office of laying hol^
of those against whom the magician employs them. The BhtUaj like-
wise, or Elements pass for extremely malevolent beings, fit to be em-
ployed for such purposes; as well as the Pisachi (or Pisassu)^ other wicked
spirits, under which appellation the Hindu Christians denote the deviL
The Sakti, female divinities and wives of Siva, the God of Destruc-
tion, are also much employed in evil purposes. Marana Devty or
Goddess of Deaih, Mari, Kali, and some other gods of the same san-
guinary and malevolent kind, also perform a great part in this game^

Y Y

346

MAGIC.

In order to put all those gods and spirits in action, the magician
offers up sacrifices of the Mantram, with many ceremonies peculiar to
the occasion. The sacrifices are much in the same taste as those before
described, although they are sometimes accompanied with particular
ceremonies. The magician, for example, while he offers up his sa-
crifice to Lakshmi, the wife of Vishnu, must be entirely naked ; and
on the contrary, he must be decorously dressed when he sacrifices
to Rama. The flowers, which are presented to the god invoked
must be red; and, when the object is to procure the death of any
one, the boiled rice offered up must be sprinkled with blood. And,
upon the same principle, when the utmost effect is required from
magical operation, a human victim is sacrificed; and particularly a
young girl.

We have already spoken of the virtue of the Mantras ; but it is in the
work of magic that they are most efficacious. They imperiously dic-
tate to the great gods ; and compel them to act in the heavens, in the
air, or on earth, whatsoever the magician requires.

It is in incantation, chiefly, that certain Mantras, cdlled Jnndamentaly
are employed. They are composed of some barbarous syllables, of
harsh utterance and difficult pronunciation. Some of them, though
almost impossible to be expressed in European characters may be imi-
tated by the sounds Hrom^ Shrim^ Shram. Sometimes the magician em-
ploys his Mantras in a humble and supplicatory style, conciliating the
god whom he invokes ; but he soon assumes an imperious tone, and ex-
claims in a vehement and impassioned key : " Seize, grasp ! If thou dost,
" it is well : if not, I command thee, in the name of God, .and in the
" name and for the feet of my Guru !" Such awfiil invocations enforce
the ready compliance of the god.

The ingredients employed by the magician, in his magical operations,
are without number. A specimen of them will here suffice.

In some direfiil acts of fascination, it is necessary to use the bones of
various animals ; those, for example, of the elephant, of a black dog, of
a scorpion, a tyger, a black cat, a bear ; of a man born on a Sunday

when it falls on the new moon, of a woman born on a Fridav ; the foot-

__ "

bones of an European, of a Mahometan, and of a Pariah, and several

\ MAGIC. S47

others ; to the amount in all of sixty-four species of bones of different
sorts.

This osseous compound, after due charms and incantation by Mantras
and sacrifices, has the potency to slay whomsoever it is «directed against^
This effect will surely follow, if, when a certain star is in the ascendant,
a portion is buried in the house of one's enemy.

Equipped with these relics, the magician has only to advance to a
hostile army, in the silence and darkness of the night, and to bury the
bones at the four cardinal points of the camp. He then retires to some
distance, and one hundred times denounces the Mantram of destruction
against the army ; and, within seven days, it will either disband itself,
or perish to the last man.

Thirty-two weapons, consecrated by the sacrifice of a human victim,
will scatter such dismay amongst a besieging army, that a hundred of
their opponents will appear, in their sight, as a thousand.

A quantity of mud is collected from sixty-four of the filthiest and
nastiest places, and moulded into small figures ; on the * breasts of
which they write the names of the persons whom they mean to annoy.
When incantation is made over them, and sacrifice performed| the Pla-
nets or the Elements environ the parties so represented, BJstd inflict
upon them a thousand pangs. Sometimes they pierce the images wiU^
thorns, or mutilate them, so as to communicate a corresponding injury
to the person represented.

Sixty-four toot^ of different plants have a similar efficacy in produc-
ing evil, when duly prepared with Mantras and sacrifice.

This variety of sorcery and spells calls to our recollection the similar
apparatus of the Canidia and Sagana of Horace ; when the explosion of
Friapus-terrified the hags into a hobbling retreat, leaving behind them
their enchanted relics and clothes.

" ■ At ill» currere in urbem.

^< Canidiae dentés, altum Saganas caliendrum

*^ -Excidere, atque herbas, atque incantata laceitis

" Vincula, cum magno risilque jocoque videres.''

Thus ends the small specimen we have selected out of the great, depo-
sitary of Indian jugglery.

Y Y 2

848

MAGIC.

The next thing, to be considered is the risk of dangélr which thç
magician himself incurs in the exercise of his profession. This is great
and imminent, on account of the reluctance of the gods to be so con-
troled by his Mantras. Often do they take vengeance upon him for this
oompulsory obedience. He cannot err in the slightest ceremony, nor
make the smallest mistake, without exposing himself to their fury.
The rites he is obliged to perform are without number ; and the omis-
sion of any one of them, however minute, through inadvertency or any
other cause^ would instantly make the whole mischief he was preparing
for others revert upon his own head.

But it is from rivals, who exercise the same trade, that the conjuror
has most to dread. These do what they can to counteract his projects
apd to make the effects of his own wicked contrivances fall upon him*
self, by employing spells of still greater efficacy. This being the case,
they bear a mortal hatred towards each other, or at least pretend to do
so. When they meet, their mutual dislike breaks out into loud de-
fiance, calling on those within their reach to decide as judges betwe^i
them and pronounce which of the two is the most skilful. The con^
test begins. The problem perhaps is, to lift a straw from the ground,
or a piece of money, without touching it. JBoth advance ; but they
stop one another's progress by flinging enchanted cinders, or by reciting
Mantras. They both feel, at the same instant, an invisible but irre-
sistible force which repulses and drives them back. They again ap-
proach, redoubling their efforts. The sweat exudes^in drops : blood is
discharged from their mouths. One of them, in the sci'àmble, gets hold
of the piece of money or the straw, and he is clamorously proclaimed
the victor.

. Sometimes one of the combatants is violently precipitated upon the
ground by the force of the Mantras of his antagonist. In this state he
remains for à long while stretched at his whole length, breathless and
(as he makes it appear) deprived of sensation. At length he gets up,
covered with shame and confusion, hangs his head, retires to bed, and
affects to be very ill for several days.

It will readily be supposed that I attribute such disputes and their
consequences to a premeditated understanding between the quacks t

MA6IC.

S49

but, through all India, the people are firmly persuaded that these pro-
cesses result from magical secrets known only to the initiated few, who,
by their means, produce such wonderfiil effects. And it must be owned
that effects are occasionally produced by them, of which it would not
be easy to divine the cause.

( 850 )

CHAP. XXXVIL

OF SANNYASIi THE FOURTH STATE OF THE BBAHMANS : THE MANNER OF IN-
AUGURATION AND THE RULES.

X HE fourth degree to which a Brahman can attain, is that of Sannyasi ;
a state so sublime, as the Hindu books declare, that it imparts, in a
single generation, a larger stock of merits tlian ten thousand could pro-
duce in any other sphere of life. They add, that, as soon as a Sannyasi
dies, he passes straightway to the world of Brahma, or to that of Vishnu ;
exempt, for ever, from the penalty of being re-bom upon earth, and of
revolving from generation to generation.

The Sannyasi Brahman takes precedence of the Vanaprastha, inasmuch
as the latter does not absolutely renounce the world, being in some de-
gree connected with it by his wife and children ; whilst the true San-
nyasi is obliged to sacrifice all those connections, and at the same time
to assume the most rigid of the rites of the Vanaprasthas. He takes the
profession also of mendicity ; and, from the moment of his installation
into that lofty order, he must live solely upon aims.

But, before embracing this holy profession, they must devote several
years to the state of Grihastha, or a married life; in which they
may have children, and so acquit the debt they owe to their forefa-
thers ; which consists, as the Brahmans hold, in perpetuating the suc-
cession of their race. Their manner of thinking, in this particular,
docs not differ from what was professed by those who existed imme-
diately after the flood ; who acted upon the memorable precept im-
pressed upon our first parents, as soon as they were created, and after-
wards solemnly renewed to Noah afler the Deluge : ^^ Increase and
^< multiply, and replenish the earth."

STAÏE OF SANNYÂSI. 851

There are, however, examples in the Hindu books, of Sannyasis, who
embraced that state from their infancy, and before being married. Some-
thing of that sort is still to be met with. But such varieties are not^
to be found in the class of the Brahmans.

It must not be from humour nor any temporary fit of zeal th^t a.
Brahman resolves to assume this rank. His resolution must be the fruit
of mature reflection, and must be founded on a true and sincere sepa-
ration from the spurious enjoyments and all the pleasures of this wodd ;
which he must heartUy renounce, in order to aspire afler a more perfect
existence. In this renunciation of the world, he must so thoroughly,
detach himself from whatsoever plains to fortune, pleasure, and ho-i
nours, as no longer to have any hankering afler such distinctions* If
he wilfully encouraged, in his heart, the slightest longing afier.. any.
thing that other men most ardently pursue, such a swerving towards
earthly vanities would alone sufHce to deprive him of all the fruits of
his penitence.

When a Brahman, therefore, has well considered the bent of his own
disposition, and has finally made up his mind to that high calling,
he convenes the principal Brahmans of his district ; and, having com-
municated to them the resolution he has formed, he intreats them to instftl
him in the situation which he feels himself destined to fill. . A matter
of such importance, however, cannot be transacted without abundance
of ceremonies.

The first care is to select a proper day ; one, in short, to which there
can be no objection. This having arrived, the aspirant, in his way
to the place of the ceremonies, undergoes the purification of bathing.
He takes with him ten pieces of cloth, such as are frequently worn in
India, somewhat like our bed-quilts, and envelopes his whole body
in them. Four of these cloths must be dyed of cavy colour, which is
a deep yellow approaching to red. It is the established colour worn by
the penitents, and, in imitation of them by the Musalman Fakirs. These
four are for his own use ; and the other six are to be given as presents
to individuals of the cast

He must also provide himself with a long bamboo cane .with seven
knots, a gourd scooped and dried, an antelope's skin, some small . pieces

g5g STATE OP SANNTÂSL

of silver and copper money^ Flowers, Akshata, Sandal wood; but
above all, a quantity of Panchakaryam. To this liquor he sacrifices,
and divides it into five earthen pots, afterwards pouring it all' back into
one vessel. He then mixes it well, and quafis a portion^ of the 'disgust-
ing preparation. Taking up what is left of it, together with the other
articles that form his stock of materials, he proceeds to the place ap*
pointed for the ceremonies.

The Guru who presides and directs, whispers in his ear some Man-
tras accompanied with a few instructions relative to the new state which
he has embraced ; after which, he orders him to dress himself in one of
the cloths of a yellow colour which he has brought with him, to cut the
Triple Cord, as a token of his renunciation of the cast itself, and to
shave off the lock qf hair which the Brahmans and other Hindus allow
to grow on the crown of the head.

All this being accomplished, he takes the seven-knotted cane in one
hand, the gourd filled with water in the other, and an antelope's skin
imder his arm. The whole equipage of a Sannyasi consists in these
three articles.

Lastly, he drinks thrice of the water in the pitcher which he carries
in his hand, he recites the Mantras which had been taught him by the
Guru ; and thus he is constituted a Sannyasi. There are no other ce-
remonies required at his installation ; which is completed by the dis-
tribution of the cloth, the pieces of money, and the other materials
among the persons present.

The new Sannyasi must conform strictly to the instructions given
him by his Guru, and must follow the rules prescribed to those who
assume this profession. I here subjoin such of them as have cotne to
my knowledge, with necessary remarks.

1. A Sannyasi, every morning, after bathing, must rub his whole
body with ashes.

The difference here between the Sannyasi and other Hindus, all of
whom make this use of ashes, is, that they apply them only to the fore-
head. , The reason for his spreading them over the whole body is to
conceal his lineaments and beauty firom those who come to visit him,

STATE OP SANNYASI. 853

and to shew that he has renounced the pleasures of life and the decor-^
ation of his person.

2. He must restrict himself to a single meal every day.

The Hindus, as we have elsewhere observed, are not supposed to be
making a meal unless when they sit down regularly to their boiled rice,
with its ordinary accompaniments. At other times, they may sip milk,
and eat fruit or other raw substances, without any breach of their fast.
The Sannyasi may likewise avail himself of the same indulgence.

3. He must give up the use of Betel.

' It is generally known that this is the leaf of a creeping plant, of a
poignant taste, which the Hindus incessantly chew. It is even a greater
mortification to them to abstain from this luxury than it would be for
an European to renounce his tobacco when most habituated to it.

4. Not only must he shun the company of women, but he must even

avoid looking at them.

5. Once every month he must shave his beard, his mustache, and

his whole head.

6. He must wear on his feet only wooden dogs.

This species of shoe is extremely convenient, being no otherwise fast*
ened to the foot than by a peg, the extremity of which passes between
the great toe and the second. It is on account of cleanness that the
Sannyasis adopt this custom ; for they would be defiled either by going
barefooted, or in leather shoes.

7. When a Sannyasi travels, he must carry ia one hand his sevens-

knotted staff, in the other his gourd, and the antelope skin under
his arm.
The use of the gourd is to carry water for his drink, and the skin
makes a convenient seat when he has occasion to sit down.

8. He must live only upon alms, and he can demand them of right.
In this way, some Sannyasis become extremely rich. But, on the

other hand they are bound to bestow the wealth so acquired in alms or

z z

354 STATE OF SANNYÀSL

other charitable acts. Some lay them out in the construction of public
works, such as houses for travellers, temples, tanks and other reservoirs
for containing water. They are likewise hospitable to passengers and
persons who come to visit them.

9. He must erect a Hermitage on the bank of a river or lake.

This regulation has in view the greater facility of bathing ; a practice
strongly recommended to the Sannyâsi. The habitation itself must be
very plain : a mere shed, open on all sides.

There are, no doubt, many other rules appertaining to this class of
individuals ; but I have confined myself to such as have fallen under
my own knowledge.

( S55 )

CHAR XXXVIII.

THE VARIOUS DUTIES OF THE SANNYASI, PARTICULARLY CONTEMPLATION.

JL HE primary and chief care of a Sannyâsî ought to be to divest him-
self entirely of any lingering attachment to the world that may ad-
here to him. It is a feeling that will always be shooting out afresh^ if
it be not completely eradicated.

A wife, children, relations and friends, a cast, a bias to sensual plea*
sure, indulgence of the palate ; and, in short, all the passions invelope
the soul in the same manner as the integuments in which some insects
involve themselves, composed of threads or straws, from which they can
never extricate themselves any more. Or they may be compared to the
wind, which agitates the surface of the water, and prevents it from re-
flecting the true image of the sun.

Comparisons such as these abound in the Hindu writings, by which
they endeavour to impress on the mind the interruptions which the
passions and other stimulants of sense occasion to the perfect re-union
of the soul to the Divinity : a consummation which ought to be the
sole object of solicitude with a Vanaprastha Brahman, and stiU more
with a Sannyasi.

He has shaken off the chains which bind other men to the earth, by
a voluntary renunciation of the world, and the abandonment of all he
there held dear. Any slight hankering after terrestrial things, that
might still insensibly adhere, is washed away by continual ablutions, by
the Panchakaryam, of which he often drinks, by his daily sacrifices, and
the various ceremonies which accompany them; by the devout life
which he lesàÈ ; and, above all, by the habitual exercise of Con-
templation.

zz 2

356 DUTIES OF THE SANNYASL -^ CONTEMPLATION.

This operation of the mind is so striking a quality amongst an idola-
trous people that it merits particular attention, if we are desirous to
know how far the spirit of fanaticism and superstition can mislead men ;
especially when it is nourished by vanity and self-love, or the wish to be
distinguished and to acquire a name.

Contemplation, in this sense, is termed Yogam by the Hindus;
from which is derived the name of Yoghi which is given to some
amongst the Devotees, who are supposed, though perhaps wrongfully,
to be more addicted to this virtue than others of the same profession.
According to the Hindu doctrine, the exercise of the Yogam spiritualizes
the Sannyasi, and renders him absolutely faultless, by conducting him
through four stages, eadbi more perfect than another.

The first of theae degrees, and lowest of all, is called Sa4okyamj or Unity
of place. In this state, the soul perceives itself in some measure to be
in the same place with God, and as it were in his presence. Thence it
passes to the second stage, called Samipyam^ proximity ; meaning, as I
understand it, that by the exercise of contemplation and the advance
beyond sublunary things, the notion and conception of God become
more familiar, and the contemplative Sannyasi is brought more nearly
into his presence. The third degree is called Sa^rupyamy resemhlàfice ;
because, in this state, the soul attains a likeness to the Divinity, and
acquires in degree some of his principal attributes. This leads to the
fourth and highest state, called Sa^tigyam^ in which a perfect trans-
formation into the divine nature ifi effected, and an intimate re-union
with it.

lam .disposed to think that, upon a candid consideration of what we have
now before us, our mystical teachers, and such of us as devote ourselves
to a contemplative life, ought not to be scandalized with such doctrine.
At any rate, it shews that the ancient devotees of India reflected more
{profoundly than is commonly understood on spiritual concerns.

More pure, undoubtedly, and more rational, before thé introduction
^ foul idolatry, this spirituality was afterwards contaminated, and
existed no farther than to inflame the pride of the devotees. They
{ttetended that they had at length arrived at that intimate re-union with
Para-Brahma, by which they became one essence ; while the rest of

DUTIES OF THE SANNYASI. — CONTEMPLATION. 357

mankind^ whom they looked down upon with sovereign contempt^ were
crawling in the mire of materiality and passion.

But whence did those pretended penitents derive this habitual con-
templation so much boasted of?

Before the prevalence of idolatry in India, and while the traditions
transmitted from the patriarchs who were near the period of the flood,
inculcating religious purity, external and internal, and such worship
as the primitive, generations paid to the Supreme Being, were not
yet forgotten ; perhaps the spirit of contemplation might have still
possessed energy sufficient to keep up the feelings of piety and de-
votion towards God. But this must have been confined to ancient
times. At present, a vain phantom only remains.

I cannot better represent the sort of contemplation that exists
among the present spurious devotees of India, than by giving a brief
account of a conversation I once had with two Hindus who were as*
piring to the contemplative life, and had for a long time studied under
eminent Sanny asis, in whose houses they had been placed.

" I was a novice," said the first, " under a celebrated Sannyasi, who
^^ had fixed his hermitage in a remote situation near Bellaburam;
^^ As he prescribed, I devoted great part of the night to watchfulness,
^* and to endeavours to expel from my mind every thought whatever.
" Agreeably to other instructions, daily repeated to me by my master,
^^ I exerted all my might to restrain my breathing as long as it could
•* be possibly endured. I persisted in thus containing myself,' con-
" tinually, till I was ready to faint away. Such violent efforts brought
" on the most profuse perspiration from all parts of my body. At
^^ length, one day, while I was practising as usual, I imagined I saw
" before me the full moon, very bright, but tremulous. At another
^' time, I was led to fancy, in broad day, that I was plunged into thick
^^ darkness. My spiritual guide, who had often predicted to me that
^^ the practice of penitence and contemplation would disclose to me
" very wonderful appearances, was quite delighted with my spiritual
" progress, when I related to him what I had experienced. He then
^^ set me some new tasks, equally difficult, to join to those I had
^^ been employed in ; and told me that the time was not far distant
^^ when I should find «till more surprising effects from my [fenitence.

858 DUTIES OF THE SANNYASI. — CONTEMPLATION.

" Wearied out at last with these tiresome follies, I gave them up,
" fearing they would altogether discompose my brain ; and I again be-
" took myself to my old employment of a labourer."

The second, who, though rather advanced in years, was of a shrewd
intellect, gave me the following account of his studies.

" My master," quoth he, " who was a Sannyasi of more than
" ordinary reputation, and with whom I served as a novice five or six
^^ months, had fixed his residence in a desert place, at some distance
" from Nama Kallu. After making me go through some preparatory.
** exercises of no great difficulty, he prescribed me others, according
*• to the progress I was making, rather more severe. He ordered me,
^ amongst other things, to look steadily at the sky, with my head
** elevated, and without winking. I was obliged to repeat this exercise
*^ several times every day; and my organs of sight soon became
" inflamed in an extraordinary degree, which occasioned me violent
^^ head-achs. Sometimes I fancied I saw sparks, and sometimes globes
** of fire in the air. The Sannyasi, whose disciple I was, appeared
" highly satisfied with my proficiency in my studies. He was blind
^^ of one eye, and I learned that he had lost it by the same experiment
^^ which he imposed upon me, as quite indispensable to conduct
^^ the mind to spirituality. Being afraid at length that his schemes
" would end in the total loss of my sight, I resolved to leave him
^^ and his contemplation also.

^^ I had likewise made trial of another sort of exercise not less painful
" than the former. The great hinge on which spirituality turns, as my
" master told me, is to keep all the orifices of the body so closely
" shut that none of the winds from within should escape. For this
" purpose, it was necessary to stop the ears with the two thumbs.
^^ The little finger and the ring finger were brought together, and
" held the lips close. Each fore-finger blocked up an eye, and each *
*< middle finger pressed upon a nostril. In order to secure the lower
*^ aperture, the penitent sat accurately upon the end of his heel. In
« this position," continued he, " I shut one of my nostrils with one
^ of my middle-fingers, and drew in as long a breath as I could
^ through the other ; which I then closed, and allowed the breath to

DUTIES OF THE SANNYASI — CONl'EMPLATION. 359

^^ escape gradually through the first. This I managed for a long time^
" only taking care never to inhale and respire by the same nostril.'*

As I had some difficulty in comprehending the trick which the
novice had described to me ; I desired him to place himself before me
in the attitude he alluded to. This he most readily did ; and never^
surely, was there seen any thing more laughable than the posture he
put himself into for a few moments ; but which he was soon obliged
to quit, in order to give way to the bursts of laughter which the re-
membrance of his past follies still provoked.

There are several other postures, still more irksome and ludicrous
than this,' in which these pretended contemplatists put themselves, to
help their meditations. One of them is to stand upright on one foot,
till the leg swells, suppurates, and breaks out in ulcers. Some will
reverse the position, and continue, great part of a day, with their head
on the ground and their feet in the air. Some hold their arms cross-
wise over their heads, imtil the muscles, by continued tension, assume
the new direction given to the»!, as if it were natural, and can never
recover their original position.

It would be useless to describe the other various modes of doing
penance, every one of which seems more painfid than another. They
reckon eighteen different kinds : but the specimen we have given wiU
be sufficient to shew the nature of their usages, and the extravagant
follies to which superstition, fanaticism, and delusion wiU lead, when
supported by a feeling of vanity and pride.

The Hindu authors, however, speak in high terms of this con-
templation, and of the admirable effects it produces. They mention
one horrible instance of it, to which forsooth they attach the highest
degree of merit It consists in subduing all sensation, and retaining
the breath with such determined perseverance, that the soul, abandon-
ing the body, bursts, through the crown of the head, and flies to
re-iinite. itself with the great Being, with Para^-^Brahma.

In the present times, the great body of contemplatists do not go
such lengths, though some are still met with who practise these extra-
vagancies. Most of them content«themselves with holding their heads
immoveable, their arms across, and their eyes closed ; excluding fiom

iggQ DiniEa CXF TH£ SANNYASI.— CONTEMPLATION.

their minds by this posture, all manner of thought Others, again,
keep their nostrils constantly shut, by squeezing the nose between
the fore-finger and thumb, bending the head forward, and keeping
the eyes stedfastly fixed to the ground, without raising them to notice
any of the objects around, or even the persons who may be addressing
them.

: I know that the practice of one of those modem Contemplators, who
was for some time a neighbour of mine, consisted in representing vividly
to his own imagination an image or idol of Vishnu, to which he men^
tally offered garments, jewels, flowers, and different kinds of viands.
He then fancied that he was addressing various petitions to the god ;
all of which were granted. He passed an hour and a half, daily, in this
exercise ; though I did not find that he became richer by it.

It is not a matter of doubt that those who, after the flood, preserved
the precious deposit of the knowledge of the only true God, and of the
worship which all reasonable beings Owe to Him, must have ofiben turned
their attention to meditation and to the contemplation of his infinite
perfections; by which they would be animated to serve Him with greater
sincerity. It was in imitation of his father Abraham, no doubt, that
** Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the. even-tide.'* Gen. xxiv.
63. Moses commanded the Israelites to commemorate without ceasing
the obligations they were under to love God with all their hearts : " And
" thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of
^^ them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the
" way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." Deut. vi.
David, who knew the importance of this exercise of the mind, from his
own experience, recommends the practice of it in almost all his Psalms.
To his son Solomon it had been less requisite ; but he nevertheless
joins in its praise. It thus passed down from age to age, from the
period of the deluge, till the establishment of the Christian religion,
which enjoins this meditation of the law of God as an indispensable
duty.

• The original founders of the nations which peopled India, the sons or
grandsons of Noah, when they separated themselves uom the rest of

DUTIES OF THE SANNYASI.— CONTEMPLATION.

361'

mankind, carried with them not only the knowledge of the true 6od^
but a persuasion of the necessity of reflecting unremittingly upon his
greatness, lest they should sink into complete forgetfulness of that
mighty Being, and of what they owed to him, as his creatures. But
these recollections, soon corrupted by evil passions and the spirit of
idolatry, degenerated into numberless excesses and ridiculous rites.

To the first true Contemplators in India, who dedicated a portion of
each day to tranquil reflection, in the presence of him whose perfections
and benefits they meditated upon, a race succeeded of foolish and ex^
travagant bigots, who, retaining nothing of their predecessors but part
of the external shew, gave the reins to their enthusiasm, and sought no
middle course in their observances. But we have often had occasion to
remark that it is the natural disposition of the Hindus neither to em-
brace nor ta follow up any thing that does not . border upon the won-
derfuL

3 A

( 362 )

CHAP. XXXIX.

M OF THE FUNERALS OF THE SANNYASI BRAHMANS.

J. HE ceremonies at the Obsequies of Sannyasi Brahmans differ in
several particulars from what are used in the case of ordinary firahmans^
and even from the Vanaprasthas. The bodies of all these are burned
after death. The Sannyasis, on the other hand, are all interred, even
such of them as have attached themselves during their life to the sect
of Vishnu. The bodies of the devotees of the last sect when they die,
we have seen, are burned on a funeral pile, in the same manner as those
who are attached to no particular sect ; whereas, by the custom of the
country, all who have in their lifetime professed the worship of Siva»
and wear the Lingam, are buried when they die. The number of the
last is exceedingly great in the western provinces of the peninsula.

In the interment of a Sannyasi, his son, if he had one before he
assumed his profession, takes the lead. If there be none, it is conceded
to some Brahnian, who voluntarily takes it on himself, at his own ex-
pence. There are never wanting persons who offer themselves for this
generous service. It is considered to stand in the highest class of good,
works.

After washing the body, it is again invested with two pieces of cloth
stained with the Cavy yellow. The whole corpse is rubbed over with
ashes of cow dung, so as to give it a thick coating. The necklace is
then put on which they call Rudraksha^ meaning the eyes of Rudra or
Siva, from whose tears the beads are supposed to have been crystallized.
AU the while, some of the Brahmans are rattling a sort of castanets of
brass, common in that country, which make a piercing sound.

FUNERALS. 3^3

After these preparatory ceremonies are over, the body is placed in a
sitting posture, cross-legged, in a large basket ; which is suspended with
straw ropes upon a strong pole of bamboo, and carried by four Brahmans.
They proceed, without noise or tumult, to the trench which has been
prepared on the bank of the river, if there be one in the neighbour-
hood. It is dug so as to resemble a well, about six feet in depth, and
is filled about one half with salt, on which the body is placed, in the
posture that has been described. It is then covered up to the neck with
the salt, which they press closely all round, so as to keep the head immov-^
able. This is succeeded by the strange ceremony of breaking cocoa-
nuts upon the head of the deceased, which is continued till the skull
be quite ^shattered ; after which, more salt is thrown into the pit, and
the head covered out of sight.

Earth is then accumulated over the trench, to the height of several
feet ; and upon the heap so raised a Lingam is erected, about three
hands breadth high, which is immediately consecrated by the Brahmans
with mantras ; and an offering is made of lamps lighted, of fruits^
flowers, incense, and, above all, of the Pramanyain. This is a dish which
• the Brahmans use often, and are very fond of; consisting of boiled rice,
cocoa, and sugar. All the offerings are accompanied with hymns, or
rather obscene songs, which they all join in chanting to the honour of
Vishnu.

As soon as they have ended the uproar, for their singing deserves no
other name, every one bawling in a note of his own ; the president of
the ceremonies paces round the Lingam three times ; after which, he
makes a profound obeisance, with his hands clasped, and offers at the
same time prayers for the deceased : that, " through the sacrifice.made
" to the Lingam he may be completely blessed ; and may it please Siva
** and Brahma to receive him into their world, that he may not have to
" live any more in this."

After finishing his prayer^ he pours out upon the ground a little
water and rice, and then collects all the bits of the cocoa nuts which
were broken on the head of the deceased, and distributes them among
those present ; who eat them as a sacred and well-boding morsel.

3 A 2

S64

FUNERALS.

The Pratrianyam is distributed among such as are without childireB,
as this sacred food is supposed to be efficacious in rendering barren
women fruitful. The ceremonies of the day end with the bath : not
that this is necessary for the purpose of purification on the present
occasion ; for no impurity can be contracted when assisting at the funeral
of a Sannyââi ; but merely as one of the three regular ablutions which
a Brahman makes every day.

For ten days afler the funeral, the person who prei^ded appeara e^ery
morning at the tomb, accompanied by several other Brahmans, and
offers sacrifices as before to the Lingam, whidi still remains over the
grave. These are repeated also on the anniversary of the funeral ; but
with this variation, that after entertaining those who assist at the cere-* •
mony with a suitable repast, he walks round, saluting each, and takes
leave of them all without offering any presents. The company, as they
retire, compliment him on the good work which he has performed.

Some tombs of Sannyasis have become famous, and are visited by
crowds of pilgrims, who come from afar with offerings and sacrifice.
They seem to be considered as a^ part of the divinities whom the people
adore.

The ceremony of battering the head of the corpse, strange as it
appears, is intended merely as a species of sacrifice, instead of an
injury. Where stones are set up to represent Lingas, they generally
assail them in the same manner, as they pass them on the highway.

The prayers and vows offered up for the Sannyasis, after their death,
with the ceremonies which accompany and follow their obsequies, seem
to indicate that all their faults are not considered to have been
expiated or their state of felicity to be beyond all doubt But this
is not the only point on which Paganism is at variance with itself

Some aged or infirm Brahmans, when conscious that they have
not long to live, become Sannyasis towards the end of their days.
This conversion, though tardy, and probably not very sincere, never
fails to obtain for them after death the same distinction they would
have received if they had passed the best part of iheir lives in all the
austerities of the profession. I may also remark, in passing, that what
I have had occasion to mention respecting the clothing of the real

FUNERALS. QQg

Sannyâsî and Vanaprastha Brahmans, shews that ancient authors were
under a mistake when they gave them the name of GymnosophistÊ
or naked philosophers.

, Some modern authors are no less mistaken in giving the appellation
of Sannyasi Brahmans to some pretended penitents, who live secluded
in hermitages, or sometimes even in a kind of convent, spacious and
convenient. The last sort is the most common, and extends to all
the casts. They do not in general adhere to the rule of the Sannyâsi
Brahmans, which requires that, before embracing the profession, they
should have entered into wedlock^ and propagated children. Many
of those here alluded to have never been married, although I would
not warrant their having lived in a state of exact continency, as they
have generally a licence to keep several women in the quality of
servants, some of whom have the superintendence over a set of
runners whom they send abroad in every direction to collect alms and
offerings, which are in some way shared amongst them.

The appellation of Sannyâsi is still more improperly applied to a
vast number of vagabonds who scour the country, with no settled
place of abode, and usurp that venerable title, to impose on the
people. Many cheats of this kind are to be met with ; but the most
common are the pretended penitents called Vairagis, who sometimes
make excursions in great bodies, and live on alms ; which they always
demand with great importunity and insolence, as a thing absolutely
due to them. The Vairagis belong entirely to the sect of Siva:
yet they do not wear the Lingam, the ordinary badge of the devotees
of that god. But, in token of their special devotion to his worship^
they are continually blackened over with ashes, and they profess
a life of celibacy ; although those who are acquainted with their
habits best know how scrupulous they are on the point of chastity.

The Vairagis J in the sect of Siva, resemble very closely the
Dasaru in that of Vishnu, as far as regards their wickedness. In
that, neither yields to the other. There is visible between them the

same aversion and hatred towards each other, and the same intolerance
towards others, which are observable in all sects who permit them-
selves to be swayed by the impulse of superstition and fanaticism ;

and, upon that ground* it is impossible but that even in modern timeÉ,
religious wars must have prevailed in India, and that the Vairagi
and Dasaru must have been mutually engaged in sanguinary contests.

Happily for the honour of human nature and the comfort of our
race* those contests, under the names of rival gods adored by the
vulgar have passed away. The bigotted partisans who stirred them
up have at last seen more clearly ; and, by reflecting better upon the
evil consequences which ensued, they saw- that nothing could be more
pernicious to religion* and that nothing so strongly tended to its ruLD»
as the contests which were stirred up for its support.

DESCRIPTION

THE PEOPLE OF INDIA.

PART III.

RELIGION.

CHAR I.

THE ORIGIN OF THE TRIMURTI, AND THE PRIMITIVE IDOLATRY OF THE HINDUS. -

X HE Hindus understand by the word Trimurti, the three principal
divinities whom they acknowledge ; namely, Brahma, Vishnu, and
Siva. It signifies three powers^ because the three essential energies of
Creation^ Preservation^ and Destruction^ severally pertain to these three
gods. The first is the leading attribute of Brahma, by whom all things
were created. The second belongs to Vishnu, the preserver of all that
exists : the last to Siva, the destroyer of what Brahma creates^ and
Vishnu preserves.

These three deities are sometimes represented singly, with their
peculiar attributes ; and sometimes as blended into one body with
three heads. It is in this last state that they obtain the name of
Trimurti, or three powers. It appears also that this union of persons
may have been intended to denote, that existence cannot be produced
and reproduced, without the combination of the three-fold power of
creation, conservation, and destruction.

368 ORIGIN OF THE TRIMURTl.

The Trimurti is acknowledged and adored by all Hindus, excepting
the tribe of Jainas or Bauddhists. And in general it may be remarked
that although some casts attach themselves, in a special manner, and
almost exclusively, to the sect of Vishnu, or that of Siva ; yet when
these gods are united with Brahma, and form but one body, they
pay undivided worship to all three, without regard to the particular
doctrines which distinguish the special followers of the different
deities.

The difficulty of tracing the origin of the Trimurti is increased by
thé disagreement of the Hindu authorities with each other on this sub-
ject. In some Furanas, it is declared to have sprung from a woman
called Adi^sdktij or Original Power^ who brought forth the three gods ;
and the fable adds that, afler having brought them into the world, she
became desperately in love with them, and took her three sons for
husbands.

In other Furanas, the origin of the Trimurti is differently accounted
for. In the Bhagavata, in particmlar, it is mentioned that a flower of
Tavari, or lily of the lakes, grew out of the navel of Vishnu, and that
Brahma sprung from the flower.

In some, the Trimurti is stated to have originated from Adi^aktij
ihe^rst power ; who produced a seed from which Siva sprung, who was
the father of Vishnu.

, But it must be allowed, that the fable of the Trimurti, or of the three
principal deities being united in one body, is less consistently supported
than any other doctrines in the Hindu books. AU that they contain on
the subject is a mass of absurdities, which do not even agree with each
other. The point which the whole of them discuss the most difiusely,
is what relates to the debaucheries and abominable amours of the three
deities in their combined form.

But, great as the power of the Trimurti is, it is frequently compelled
to endure the superiority of some virtuous personages, with the dread-
ful effects of their malediction and wrath. Shocked at the sight of the
infamous proceedings of the three deities, those purer minds attain the
power of punishing and of folly subduing them by. the irresistible po-
tency of their Mantras. In this high rank, the virgin Jnastiifa was

ORIGIN OF TH£ TRIMURTI. 3g9

conspicuous» a woman as much renowned for inviolable chastity and
' piety towards the gods, as for tender compassion towards the unfortu-
nate*

The Trimurti having heard the praises of this virtuous woman, be-
came enamoured, and resolved to deprive her of what she had till then
so rigidly preserved ; her virgin ity» For that purpose, the three gods,
disguised as mendicants, went to ask her for alms. She readily complied,
and made a liberal distribution amongst them. The pretended beggars,
having thus partaken of her bounty, told her they had still another
favour to beg, and they proceeded to unfold their wicked intentions.

Anasuya, amazed and terrified at language to which she had been
so little accustomed, took vengeance, by pronouncing certain Mantras
over the seducers, and sprinkling them with a holy water of such effi-
cacy as to convert the Trimurti into a calf. The transformation of the
gods being complete, she yielded to the tenderness of her nature, and
nourished the fatling with her own milk.

The Trimurti remained in this humiliating state of servitude, till the
female deities, apprehending some unpleasant accidents firom the ab-
sence of their three principal gods, consulted with each other, and de*
termined upon emplopng all the means in their power to relieve them*
selves from the degraded condition into which they had fallen. They
went therefore in a body, in quest of Anasuya, whom they humbly
besought to give up the Trimurti, and restore the three gods to th^ir
accustomed splendour. This petition of the goddesses was granted,
with great difficulty, and only upon the hardest of all conditions. But
they chose rather to lose their honour than their gods. Thèjr discharg|ed
the penalty (to whom or by what means the story says not), and Che
virgin restored the Trimurti to their original state, and allowed them
to return to their ancient residence. •

The Hindu books abound in abominable stories of this kind respect-
ing the Trimurti. What we have related is one of the least indecent
amongst them.

But the obscure, and, in many respects, contradictory, manner in
which they describe the origin of the Trimurti, and the extreme con-
fusion which pervades all the fables relating to it, have convinced me

370 ORIGIN OF THE TRIMURTf.

that the three chief divinities who compose it are something wholly
different from what they are . there represented to be.

At the commencement of their idolatry, the Hindus, confining their
worship to sensible objects, such as the sun, the moon, stars and ele*
ments, never resorted to images of stone or other materials ; because
the objects of their adoration were always present and continually in
their view. But, when the spirit of idolatry had made progress^ and
the people of India had deified their heroes or other mortals, they be-
gan then, and not before, to have recourse to statues and images to
preserve the memory of such illustrious beings, and transmit it to
posterity. By degrees they assigned a bodily form to all the objects of
their worship, believing it to be the only means of fixing durable im->
pressions of them in the minds of a people nearly insensible to every
thing that did not directly affect the senses.

It is from this period, I presume, that the true origin of the Tri-
murti is to be taken, being long posterior to the establishment of ido-
latry in India. The three powers contained in the etymology of the
word, appear to shew that, under the representation of three divine
persons in one body, the ancient Hindus intended the three great
powers of nature ; namely the earth, the water, and the fire. In course
of time this original notion would gradually vanish ; and an ignorant
race, directed solely by the impressions of the senses, gradually con-
verted what at first was a simple allegory, into three distinct godheads.

Before«.pushing our inquiries farther, it will be proper to make some
remarks on the origin which the learned of Europe, in modem times^
have assigned to this triple god of the Hindus. They resolve it into
the three principal deities of the Greeks and Romans under different
names, and according to them, Brahma is no other than Jupiter^
Vishnu is the same as Neptune ; and Siva is Pluto.

Jupiter, in Greek Mythology, is the author and creator of all things ;
the father, master, king of men and gods. But all these attributes
pertain no less to the Hindu Brahma. All men were created by him
and issued from various parts of his body. The universe is his work»

ORIGIN OF THE TRDtURTL 3^1

and belongs to him. It is «ailed the Egg of Brahma ; - and when it
was laid, according to the Hiq^U expression, he hatched it

He also more particularly reaembles Jupiter in his scandalous amours.
Jove had his own sister Juno for his wife. Brahma is both the father
and the husband of Saraswati, Many other points of resemblance
might be pointed out between t^ese two divinities, sufficient to induce
the belief that the one was derived from the other.

I find the resemblance equally striking between Neptune and Vishnu;
The former makes the waters his abode. The sea is his empire.
There he holds sovereign sway, mrmed with his formidable trident. The
cheerful tritons accompany him> sounding their conch shells all around.

Vishnu is distinguished by attributes neady the same. The name by
whidi he. is principally invoked is that of Narayana^ which signifies
one that sojoums in the waters. £(e is represented as quietly asleep on
the bosom of the wide ocean, if i|0 accident occur to awake him ; with
no trident in his hand, indeed, nor tritons around him. But the sym-
bol of the trident is borne by his devotees on their foreheads, repre-
sented by the mark called iVama; and some remembrance of the tri-
tons may be -suggested by their blowing of the sea-horjn, the figure of
which they likewise représent with hot iron on the shoulders.

But as to Pluto, the grim monarch of hell, king of the dead, ruler
over the regions of desolation ; is he not the exact model on which
Siva is formed ? To Siva belongs the power of destruction. He reduces
all things to dust. Where carcasses are burnt, there he delights to
dwell ; there he raises his bowlings and his cries. Rudra is his name,
the cause of lamentation.

Fluto, finding no female willing to accompany him to his dismal
abode, carried off Proserpine by force, and concealed her so well that
she escaped for a long time the search of her mother Ceres. It
was by roaming in unfrequented places, and with infinite difficulty,
that Siva also found a wife. Having long failed in his search, he ob-
tained one at last by applying to the mountain. Farvata^ who gave
him his daughter Parvatij in consideration of his long and rigid peni^
tence in the deserts. And to prevent her escape, he constantly carries
her on his head enveloped in the enormous folds of his bushy hair,

3b 2

372 OBJQIN OP THE TRIMURTI.

But when a resemblance is found between the fabulous deities of
different nations, is that sufficient to justify the conclusion that they
are in reality the same, though under different names ? If it were so,
I could exhibit Jupiter in Vishnu and in Siva, as well as in Brahma ;
for those two gods, have a coincidence of character, as much as Brahma
himself, with the chief deity of the Greeks ^and Romans.

It was Vishnu, in fact, who purged the earth from a race of giants
by whom it was over-run, and who far exceeded in stature, as well as
in strength and power, the Enceladuses and Briareuses that were sub^
dued by Jupiter.

The Roman deity rode upon an eagle. Vishnu was also mounted
on a fine bird of prey, of, the species of eagles. It was called Gor-
ruda^ and though originally of little size, it became enormously
large, and fit to bear the Master of the World : for by this high title
was Vishnu, as well as Jupiter recognized.

Other points of resemblance, not less striking, exist between the
other gods of India and of Greece. Juno, the wife of Jupiter, is the
goddess of wealth. And so is Lakshmi, the wife of Vishnu, whose
name denotes Riches. But there is a greater similitude between these
illustrious females in their jealousy, for which they are equally con-
spicuous, arising in both from the perpetual infidelities of their
husbands, and producing the same dissension and domestic quarrels.

The Romans, in their public spectacles, exhibited in honour of their
gods, chiefly introduced Jupiter and Juno on the stage. The Hindus
have the same practice in respect to Vishnu and Lakshmi.

There is still another high deity in India who bears no small re^
semblance to Jupiter m several particulars : I mean Indra or Devendra.
The word signifies King of the Gods ; and he who bears this name is
monarch of the sky. The world which he inhabits is called Swat^a
or the place of sensual delight. Devendra reigns here over a great
number of inferior deities, who enjoy, in his paradise, all the pleasures
of carnal voluptuousness. He distributes amongst them the Amrita^
a liquid* which may be well compared to the Ambrosia of the Greets.

♦ Mrita is a Sanscrit word signifying Dead^ and Amrifa is the reverse, or Immor^
ial. The liquor Amrita, which is said to resemble milk, has been ahready mentioned as
haying been produced when the gods churned the sea of milk with the mountain Mandara.

ORIGIN OF THE TRIMURTI. 37g

Thunder is the armour of Devendra ; and he, as well as the son of
Saturn, launches it against the giants. But, amongst the points of re-
semblance between them, there is this essential difference, that Deven-
dra, with all his high titles, is but of an inferior class in the order of
the gods, and that his authority is but of a subordinate kind.

The same parallel which I have drawn, between Jupiter on one side,
and Brahma, Vishnu, and Devendra on the other, I could equally
apply to several others of the Grecian and Hindu gods ; and by that
means shew that the one class has not been copied from the other, as
from a model. Indeed whatever resemblance may be traced between
the objects of idolatry in different countries, it will scarcely afford
sufficient grounds to infer that the whole was originally the same, or
the one borrowed from the other.

But if it was not from abroad that the Hindus received their three
principal divinities, whence can they have originated? This will
require explication. But let us first attend to an essential article in
which the Hindu idolatry differed widely from the European paganism,
as it anciently flourished at Athens and in Rome. It was not the
Sea they worshipped there, but its monarch, the god Neptune who
presided over it. His attendants, the Nereids and Tritons, had a share
in his worship. It was not to fountains and forests that sacrifices
were offered, but to the Naiads and Fauns who ruled and had their
dwellings there.

The idolatry of India is of a grosser kind, at least in many circum-
stances. It is the water itself which they worship ; it is the fire,
men, or animals ; it is the plant, or other inanimate object. In short
they are led to the adoration of things, from the consideration of their
being useful or deleterious to them. A woman adores the basket,
which serves to bring or to hold her necessaries, and offers sacrifices
to it ; as well as to the rice-mill, and other implements that assist
her in household labours. A carpenter does the like homage to his
hatchet, his adze, and other tools; and likewise offers sacrifices to
them. A Brahman does so to the style with which he is going to
write ; a soldier to the arms he is to use in the field ; a mason to his
trowel, and a labourer to his plough.

374 ORIGIN OF THE TRMURTL

It is true, there is another species of idolatry much less rude than
this, which relates to idols of distinction. These are withheld from
public adoration until the divinity they represent has been invoked
and inserted by the Mantras of the Brahmans ; and in this instance,
therefore, we must allow that it is the god who resides in the idol that
is the object of worship, rather than the image itself But this last
species of idolatry, though of later origin than the preceding, I con-
ceive, is by no means opposed to it. Both kinds are followed and
Approved, although the first be undoubtedly the most common j and
indeed it is founded on a maxim universally admitted amongst them,
that honour is due to whatsoever may be the cause of good or of evil,
whether it be living or inanimate.

" My Grod !" exclaimed one day to. me a person of some consider-
ation amongst them, ^^ what vast evil or good the man has it in his
<• power to do me, who is at the head of the husbandmen, who culti-
" vate my grounds under his orders !"

I have somewhere read a conversation between the wives of the
seven famous penitents of India, in which they all agreed in the
principle that a woman's chief god is her husband, by reason of the
good or evil which he can bring upon her.

It was upon the same principle that the Hindus in ancient times,
rendered divine honours to certain grand penitents, firom the strong
conviction they felt of the mischief that might result from their
maledictions, or the good that would flow from their blessing.

Nor is it from a dissimilar feeling, that at the present day, they so
readily prostitute the name of God by applying it to any mere mortal
whom they have reason to view with fear or hope.

But the poor Hindus are not the only people that have degraded
themselves by such humiliation and sacrilegious flattery. The Romans
scrupled not to follow the same course ; and Virgil was not the only
adulator who dishonoured religion, in venturing to burn incense upon
altars dedicated to his benefactor Augustus, then living, and to bedew
them with the blood of the best lambs of his flock.

The principle amongst the Hindus of deifying whatsoever is usefiil,
bas extended to the mountains and the forests. In such sequestered

' ORIGIN OF THE TRIMURTI. 375

places, casts of persons are found who lead a vagabond and savage life,
acknowledging none of the gods of the country ; but they have one of
their own institution, a thick and long Root, which these wild men are
fond of, and make the principal part of their food. They adore it, and
in its presence they celebrate their marriages and take their oaths and
vows. They know of nothing that can be more useful to them j and
therefore they have assumed it for their god.

tThe same idea gave birth to the apotheosis of the three principal
deities of India ; for I am persuaded that they were originally, in the
Hindu idolatry, nothing else than the three most obvious elements of
the Earth, the Water, and the Firé. These were the real gods whoih
they originally worshipped ; and we shall soon find that the same wor-
ship, though not so visible, still subsists at the present day'.

Earth is the element from which all the productions most necessary
to man proceed. From her bosom are collected the grain and the plants
which serve for his nourishment. She is the universal mother of all
living creatures. She is therefore the first of the Gods: she is
Brahma.

But, without the seasonable visitation of the Rain and thç Dew, in a
land hot and without water, the labours of the ^husbandman would be
fruitless, and the soil, now so exuberant in its increase, would become
barren and deserted. Water is the great preserver of whatever the earth
engenders, or makes to germinate with life. Water, with all its bless-
ings, has therefore become the second God of the Hindus, and holds
the honours of Vishnu. •

But what could the sluggish earth, even with the aid of the water, so
ungenial and cold in its own nature, have effected, in their sterile union,
but for the FirCj the principle of warmth, which came to vivify and
quicken the mass ? Without this enlivening element, the chilled plants
would have refused to shew their gay attire, or to acquire the maturity
necessary to constitute a fit aliment for man. But fire not only invigo-
rates all animated nature, and developes every thing to its utmost perfect
tion ; but it also accelerates dissolution and decay ; a process not less
necessary, because, from corruption, nature is restored, and germinates
afresh. Fire, therefore, has contributed as much as the other elements»

376 ORIGIN OF THE TRIMURTI.

and equally deserves the general adoration and worship, which have be«
stowed on it the title and the honours of Siva.

What I have here proposed is not a system gratuitously invented, for
the purpose of explaining the original idolatry of the Hindus, It is
their own doctrine, reduced into daily practice ; and the direct worship
of the Elements^ though less observable now than it was in former
times, is still maintained in vigour. ^^ Hail! Earth, mother most
" mighty!" are the words of the Yajur-veda; or, as they are afterwards
explained^ ^^ Health €6 her, from whom we derive the blessing of
' << nourishment'' In the same Veda the following words are also
found : ^* Health to thee, O Fire ! God that thou art." And, in other
respects, nothing more strongly indicates the divinity that was ascribed
to this element, than the sacrifice of the Homam, so much used by the
Brahmans, and that of the Yajna formerly described ; both of which
seem evidently an ofiering to Fire. In presence of that element, the
Hindus take their most solemn oaths. It is also adjured as the witness
of whatever they assert and affirm ; and a peijury committed, under
such circumstances, could not fail to draw down the dreadfiil vengeance
of the God^

The divinity of Water is recognized by all the people of India. It
is the object of the prayers and of the adorations of the Brahmans,
-; while they perform their ablutions. On that holy occasion, they parti-
cularly invoke the sacred rivers ; and above all the Ganges, whose
venerable waters they adore.

On many occasions the Brahmans and other Hindus ofier to the
Water oblations of money, by casting into the rivers and tanks, in the
places chiefly wheçe they bathe, small pieces of gold, silver, and copper,
and sometimes pearls and ornaments of value.

Sailors, fishermen, and others who fi-equent the sea and the rivers,
never fail, upon stated occasions, or as circumstances require, to hold a
solemnity on the bank, where they sacrifice a ram, or other suitable
ofiering. But, to whom do they offer this worship ? " To that God,"
they will answer, pointing to the water of the sea, or of the river or pond
near which they stand.

ORIGIN OF THE TRIMURTI. 377

Iff after a long drought, a plenteous shower descends to renovate the
hopes of the despairing husbandman, filling the great tanks or réservoirs
that contain the water collected .for the irrigation of the fields of rice ;
instantly the population of Brahmans and Sudras assemble on the
brink, with loud exclamations of the " Ladi/^ being arrived. Every
one joins in congratulation. Every one clasps his hands, and makes a
deep obeisance, in sign of gratitude to the Water^ which replenishes
their cisterns. The sacrifice of a Ram is also made, fi*om time to time,
at the brink of the water.

At the season of the great inundations of the Cavery, which generally
take place in the middle of July, the inhabitants of that part of the
peninsula make a solemn pilgrimage to its banks, many of them coming
from a great distance, so that, in some places, the concourse is altogether
innumerable. Their object is to congratulate the Lady or the Flood
on her arrival, and to offer sacrifices of rejoicing.

When I had occasion to speak of the Triple Prayer of the Brahmans,
I mentioned that they pl^ce a copper vessel filled with water on the
ground, and make several prostrations and other signs of reverence
before it. From this, one might be led to conclude, that the vessel,
and the water it contains, are placed in honour of Vishnu, and that the
çigns of adoration are addressed to that Gk)d. But my reason for think-
ing that the worship is directed exclusively to the Water in the vessel,
is, that the same practice exists among the Brahmans, whether belong-
ing to the sect of Vishnu or not.

The homage and worship which the Brahmans offer directly to the
Elements, may be remarked in several of their daily rites. When^ for
example, they commence reading in the Vedas ; on coming to the
Yajur-veda and Atharvena-veda^ they must offer a prayer to Water ; but
if it be the Rik-veda and Sama^veda^ the supplication must be ad-
dressed to Fire.

The worship of the Elements among the Hindus was, no doubt, in
ancient times, consecrated by temples erected to their service. I have
never been able to discover that any vestiges of such buildings remain ;
but if we give credit to Abraham Rogers, and the Brahman who was
his authority, there was a temple standing, in his time, in a district

378 ORIGIN OF THE TRIMURTI.

bordering on the coast of Coromandel, which was built in honour of the
Five Elements.

It may be said, perhaps, that the Hindus are not the only people that
liave paid adoration directly to the object, without regard to the Gods
who were ultimately considered as thé inherent Kings and Rulers ; and
that, in almost all countries, the^ Elements have been worshipped. The
Persians, in particular, as we learn from Herodotus, offered them sacri-
fices. This serves to confirm what I have advanced concerning the
Hindu worship of them j nor is it wonderful that they should have fallen
into a practice, so gross and absurd, in imitation of all other ancient
nations.

From those three elements were formed the three gods, Brahma,
Vishnu, and Siva, or the Trimurti ; which bears the double meaning
of three bodies arid three powers. The Hindu writers affect, allegory
above all things ; and the simple readers, being easily misled, take the
whole in a literal sense, and worship the image instead of what it sig-
nifies. . ^

The mode of explanation by allegory, is so familiar to the Hinda
poets, that they usually refer to their three chief gods under the sym-
bolical attribute of each. In regard to the human race, they find three
distinct characters or dispositions, which they call Guna; namely,
the Tania Guna^ or serious and grave ; the Saiwa Gnna, or the gentle
and insinuating; and the Raja Guna^ or the choleric and ardent.
These qualities they have transferred to the three gods ; making the
first apply to Brahma, the second to Vishnu, and the third to Siva.
The agreement is no less exact when applied to the three elements
combined in the Trimurti ; the Earth, represented by Brahma, having
solidity for its characteristic; the Water, under the appellation of
Vishnu, with its insinuating qualities ; and the Fire, with the semblance
of Siva, containing the power of destnietion.

The Tama, or grave character attributed to Brahma, is so suitable
to the nature of the earth, which is distinguished by ponderosity and
density, that the Hindu authors confound it frequently with the esith
itself. Thus, in a lunar eclipse, when the opacity of the earth inter-
cepts the rays of the sun in their way to illuininate the moon,' they

ORIGIN OF THE TRIMURTT. 379

use the word Tama^ and say that the Tama Bimbam^ or disk of the
earth, obscures that of the moon with its shadow.
. The Raja Guna^ or ardent disposition, is no less indicative of Siva.
The appellation is therefore frequently given him by the poets. And
though his usual name of Siva signifies Joy, yet he often passes
under others which denote Fire only. Such is that of Jwtda^ under
which he is known, derived from the word Jwalam, which signifies a
flame.

I may here allude to a custom, which supports my opinion respecting
the Trimurti. The Hindus, sometimes imagining that the god Siva
has waxed extremely wroth, and fearing, during periods of excessive
heat, that every thing will be set on fire by the burning ardour that
inflames him, plaCe over the head of his idol a vessel filled with water,
in which a little hole has been pierced, to let drop after drop fall down,
to refresh him and check the vehemence of the fire which consumes
him. >•

The Saia Guna^ or gentle and iminuating temper, ia no doubt ex-
pressive of the water, which filters and insinuates itself into the earth,
and renders it fertile. The word Vishnu means, that which thoroughly
penetrates ; which perfectly agrees with the quality of water, which is
emblematical of him. Indeed the name by which he is cljiefly known
by many of his devotees is that of Ap or Water.

What I have here attempted to prove respecting the three principal
deities of India as being nothing else than the three principal elements of
earth, water, and fire, is un article of doctrine well understopd by many
Brahmans belonging to the sect of Vishnu. I have conversed with se-
veral of them, who have informed me that their opinion on the subject
was not different from mine, and have even furnished me with some of
the arguments I have made use of. They told me farther, that they
themselves treated all that is commonly taught concerning the mystery
of the Trimurti as fabulous or allegorical. But as their mode of
thinking visibly tended to thq overthrow of the established religion of
the country, and at . the same time, not only to dry up the principal
source of their emoluments, but actually expose them to public detest-
ation; they preferred to keep their opinions private, or at least to

3c 2

ggO ORIGIN OF THB TRIMURIT.

communicate them only to one another, or in company where they were
confident they should be safe.

Taking for granted the reality of the metamorphosis of the three
elements into the three principal deities of India, it will be easy to
^ve a very simple and natural explication of certain expressions to be
found in the Hindu writings, which might lead many persoQS to believe
that the people of that region possessed, from the earliest times, some
knowledge of the mystery of the Trinity. " These three gods," it is there
said, ^ make but one only. It is a lamp with three lights ;" with many
other expressions seeming to import one God in three persons.

If it were true that the primitive Hindus had it in their cont^npla-
tion to transmit an idea of the Trinity under the form and attributes of
the Trimurti, it must be owned that they have most wofuUy disfigured
that august mystery. But it does not appear to me that we are autho-
rised to draw such consequences fi'om the expressions we have alluded
to, and others of the same kind ; for the reunion of their three ele^
ments into one body, relates only to that natural admixture of three
substances, no two of which, without the third, could possibly produce
what is necessary for the wants of man, but must remain barren and un-
fruitful.

The fathers of the first ages of the church, such as Justin Martyr,
St. Clement, Theodoret, St. Augustin, established the truth of the
Trinity by the authority of the ancient Greek philosophers, and par-
ticularly by that of Plato, or of his principal scholars Plotinus and
Porphyry ; and they successfully availed themselves of these authorities,
in those times, against the Pagans, amongst whom they preached the
Christian religion. The fathers found, in the works of the authors
alluded to, the words of Father^ Son, and Spiritual Word: the Father
comprehending what was perfect in goodness ; the Son altogether re-
sembling the Father ; and the Word, by whom all things were created ;
and these three hypostases made but one God.

These were not idle words, casually escaping from those philosophers.
They were the foundation of the S3rstem of Plato, who could not ven-
ture to make them public amongst a people attached to polytheism,
lest he should be treated with the same cruelty, as befel the virtuous

ORIGIN OF THE TRIMURTI. 3gl

Socrates. But I strongly suspect that those venerable fathers of the
church would not have chosen to resort to the authority of those philo-
sophers, had they not found in their works expressions more decided,
more consistent, and more spiritual, than what can be found in Hindu
writings.

I might subjoin to what I have said respecting the change of the
three principal elements into the divine nature, a similar transform-
ation of the other two, the air and the xmnd. The latter, which the
Hindus have created their fifth element, appears to be the god Indra
or Devendra, the greatest of the subordinate deities, and king of the
Air^ in which he dwells. His name signifies Air; and it is in that
region that the winds have the strongest power.

In the Indra Purana^ these words are found : ^^ Indra is nothing else
" than the Wind, and the Wind is nothing but Indra. The wind, by
^^ condensing the clouds occasions the thunder ; which has been given
" to Devendra as his weapon." He is frequently represented as having
warred against the Giants, sometimes victorious and sometimes overcome.
The Clouds, which often resemble giants in their shape, sometimes
arrest the progress of the wind ; while the wind, more frequendy,
purges the air of the clouds.

It has happened to the poets of India, as well as those of other na-
tions, in early times, that their fables and fictions were originally mere
allegories, which were afterwards taken as real by a rude people. Sue*
ceeding poets preserved some part of the allegories of their predeces-
sors ; but they more firequently gave reins to the mad enthusiasm of a
wild imagination, and fabricated new fables, often incongruous with
the others, and still more remote from credibility. Thus in searching
after the origin of the gods of the Pagans, recourse must be had to
something behind the chaos of ill digested and absurd fables, which
obscure the view.

( 382 )

CHAP. IL

. THE PBIMCIPAL FSSTIVALS OF THE HINDUS, PARTICULARLY THAT OF THE rOHGOL

OB SANKRANTI.

XjESIDES the Feasts peculiar to each district and temple, which
turn several times in the course of a year, and are celebrated by the
inhabitants of the neighbourhood, the Hindus have a great many moTe,
which are held but once a year, and are commonly observed through
thé whole country. It would be a useless labour to enter into a particu-
lar detail of these numerouiS festivals, with the object and ceremonies of
each. But we may remark that all of them are occasions of joy and
diversion. On such days, the people quit their servile employments.
Friends and relations unite in family parties, in their best apparel ; de-
corate their houses as finely as they are able, and give entertainments
more or less splendid, according to their means. Innocent pastimes
are intermixed, and every other method of testifying their happiness.

They reckon eighteen principal Festivals in the course of the year ;
and no month passes without one or more of general observance. Some,
however, are of so much more celebrity than the rest, as to demand
particular notice.

-In this number we must place the first day of their year, called
Agrasya^ which falls on the new moon in March. At that period, the
Hindus make rejoicings for three days ; exhibiting fire-works, letting
off chambers or guns, and shewing their joy in every other way.

The festival of Gauri, which is held in the beginning of September,
and which lasts several days, is also to be commemorated, as one of the
most solemn. The name of Gauri is one of the appellations of Par-
VBtif the wife of Siva, and it appears to be principally in honour of this

FESTIVALS. gg3

goddess. It is likewise held to be in honour of the gods of the house-
hold, who are not the same in this instance as the Penates formerly
mentioned.

At this time, every artisan, every labourer, all the world, in short,
ofier sacrifices and supplications to the Tools and, Implements which
they use in the exercise of their various professions. The labourer
brings his plough, hoe, and other instruments which he uses in his work.
He piles them together and offers to them a sacrifice consisting of in-^
cense, flowers, fruits, rice, and other similar articles ; afler which hm
prostrates himself before them at all his length, and then returns them
to their places. •

The mason offers the same adoration and sacrifice to his trowel, his
rule, and other instruments. The carpenter is no less pious with re-
gard to his hatchet, his adze, and his plane. The barber, too, collects
his razors in a heap, and adores them with similar rites.

The writing-master sacrifices to the iron pencil or style with which he
writes ; the taylor to his needles ; ^he weaver to his loom ; the butcher
to his cleaver.

The women, on this day, heap together their baskets, the rice-mill,
the wooden cylinder with which they bruise the rice, and the other
household implements ; and fall down before them, afler having offered
the sacrifices we have described. Every person, in short, in this solem-
nity, sanctifies and adores the instrument or tool which he principally
uses in gaining his livelihood. The tools are now considered as so
many deities ; to whom they present their supplications, that they would
continue propitious, and furnish them still with the means of living;
So universal is the feeling among the Hindus to deify and honour what-
ever can be useful or pernicious, whether animate or inanimate !

The festival of Gauri is concluded by erecting a shapeless statue in
each village, composed of paste from grain. It is intended to represent
the Goddess Gauri or Parvati; and, being placed under a sort of
canopy, it is carried about through the streets with great pomp, and re-
ceives the homage of the inhabitants, who floek to render it their
adorations.

384 FBSTIVAI£.

Another festival, of equal celebrity, is called by the Hindua Maha^
Naoami^ which is destined principally to the honour of deceased
ancestors. It is celebrated in the month of October, during a period
of three days ; and is so religiously kept that it has become a proverbial
saying, that those who have not the means of celebrating it should sisll
one of their children to procure them.

. When the day of the festival arrives, all Hindus, each for hiinaelf,
make offerings of boiled rice and other food to their departed ancestors,
Éhat they may be well regaled on that day. They afterwards olfer
sacrifices of burning lamps, of fruits and flowers ; and to these th^
add new articles of dress for men* and women, that their ancestors of
both sexes may be fresh clothed.

This festival, which lasts several days, *is selected by the Prinœs and
those who follow the profession of arms, to offer up sacrifices to the
accoutrements used in the field, in order to obtain success in war. On
the appointed day, all the arms, offensive and defensive, are collected
together. A Brahman Purohita is called, who sprinkles them with his
holy water, and pronounces mantras over them ; by virtue of which the
whole are deified. The c^eremony, which is conducted with great solem-
nity, finishes, by sacrificing a Ram to the armour. It is called the cere*
mony of Ayudha-Fuja^ or Sacrifice to the Armsj and is celebrated in all
parts by the military with the utmost animation.

On the same day, the Princes give public shews, with a distribution
of prizes. The spectacle consists chiefly in fights of wild beasts with
each other, or with men ; and also in combats of pugilists, some of
whom come from a great distance to contend for the prize which it is
customary to assign to the victor. This species of contest, which much
resembles the shew of gladiators among the Romans and other ancient
nations, is entirely committed to a particular cast of Hindus, called
Yati. The members consist of youths selected from their infancy, and
trained to this kind of sport: and their principal employment is td
mangle each other with blows in the presence of those who chuse to
pay for the enjoyment of so barbarous a spectacle ; which is neverthe*
less one of the principal amusements of the Hindu Princes.

FESTIVALS,

385

Before entering the lists, the pugiKsts, as if the blows with fists which
they discharge upon each other were not sufficient to satisfy the barbar^
ous appetite of the multitude, arm their fingers with a sort of iron cases
or ferrules. Thus equipped, they commence by words of defiance and
threatening gestures ; and then setting on with signs of fury, they assail
each other with terrible blows from their armed hands. Then, strug^
gling, they throw each other down ; and when they get upon their
legs again, with their heads and bodies streaming with blood, they re-
cover their breath, and engage in the combat anew, till one is declared
the victor ; unless indeed when the strength of both is equally exhausted,
and the humane umpire of the sport separates them, to make room for
another pair. The dismissed combatants retire, bathed in blood, and
often with broken bones ; and yield the arena to the new set, who repeat
the horrid spectacle. When it is over, the Prince grants prizes and
other rewards, both to the victors and the vanquished, in proportion to
the savage ferocity with which they have belaboured each other.

When the shew is ended, the bruised combatants are attended by
persons of their cast, who come provided with plasters for their wounds,
or with skill to set their dislocated bones. In operations of this sort
the Yatis or Jatis have the reputation of being expert.

In the month of November, another feast is celebrated, which is
called Dwidigay^ and which does not yield^n solemnity to the preced-
ing. It is instituted in memory of the two celebrated giants, one
of whom bore the name of BcUa-^Jiakravartij and the other that of
Narah-amra. The latter had become the scourge of the human race^
and infested the earth with his crimes. Vishnu at length delivered
both gods and men from the terror of this monster, whom he slew after
a dreadful combat. The contest ended but with the day. Thus Vishnu,
not having it in his power to make his diurnal ablutions before the set-
ting of the sun, was under the necessity of performing them, contrary
to all rules, in the night. The Brahmans, in commemoration of this
great event, when that day returns, put off their ablutions to the night ;
and this is the only occasion, in the course of the year, in which they
can transgress the ordinance of never bathing after sunset. But this

agg FESTIVALS. #

exception^ of the nocturnal bathing, possesses the highest degree of
merit ; and it is therefore conducted with particular solemnity.

But the word Dimligay signifies the Feast of Lamps ; and I there*
fore suppose it must have been instituted in honor of fire ; and, at this
season, the Hindus actually light a great number of lamps round the
doors of their houses. They make paper lanterns, also, which they
hang in the streets with a burning lamp in each ; which in many places
ffives this festival the name of the Feast of Lanterns.

The husbandmen celebrate this festival of Divuligay in a difierent way.
Being then the harvest time for grain, they assemble with much pomp
at the corn fields, and offer their supplications and sacrifices.

In many places they also offer sacrifice, on this day, to the Dunghill^
which is afterwards to enrich the ground. In the villages, every one
has his particular heap, to which he makes his own offering, consisting
of bumii^ lamps, fi*uits, flowers and other matters, which are deposited
on the mass of ordure.

There is another festival, of great celebrity amongst the Lingamites
called Siva-ratrij or Night of Siva. It is celebrated towards the end
of February or beginning of March, when the votaries of that god pu-
rify their Lingas> and cover themselves with a new garment. After ver-
rions sacrifices, they must pass the night in watchfulness, employing
the time in reading some puranas relating to Siva, or in visits to their
Jangama, but without defiiing themselves with any servile work.

The feast called Naga Panchami is also one of the eighteen an-
nual festivals, and one of the most solemn. It takes place in the
month of December, and is instituted in honour of the Serpents.

All these festivals are celebrated as family rites, and are not to be
confounded with those that are carried on in the pagodas or temples, to
which multitudes of people resort, and where all the rules of decency
and modesty are violated without shame or remorse.

But, of all festivals, the most famous, at least in most countries, is
that which is called Fongol, celebrated in the end of December or the
winter solstice. It lasts three days ; during which time the Hindus
employ themselves in mutual visits and compliments, jsomething in the
same manner as the Europeans do on the first day of the year.

FESTIVALS. ^»j

This portion of Hindu Paganism is too remarkable to be passed over
without a short description of the principal circumstances which attend
it. The feast of the Pongol is a season of rejoicing, for two special rea-
sons. The first is, that the month of Magha or December, every day
in which is unlucky, is about to expire ; and the other, that it is to be
succeeded by a month, each day of which is fortunate.

For the purpose of averting the evil effects of this baleful month of
Magha, about four o'clock in the morning, a sort of Sannyasis go from
door to door of every house, beating on a plate of iron or copper,
which produces a piercing sound. All who sleep, being thus roused, are
counselled to take wise precautions, and ta guard against the evil pre-
sages of the month, by expiatory offerings, and sacrifices to Siva, who
presides over it With this view, every morning, the women scour $L
space of about two feet square before the door of the house^ upon
which they draw several white lines with flour. Upon these they place
several little balls of cow-dung, sticking in each a citron blossom.

I have no doubt that the little baUs are designed to r^resent the
idol of Puliyar or Vighneswara, the god of obstacles^ whom they desire to
appease with the Ôower ; but I know not why the blossoms of the citron
are chosen above ^11 others. Each day these little lumps of cow dung,
with their flowers, are picked up and preserved in a private place, till
the last day of the month Magha ; and when that comes, the women»
who are alone charged with this ceremony, put thé whole in a basket,
and march from the house, with musical instruments before them, dap-
ping their hands, till they reach the tank or other waste place where
they dispose of the relics.

The first day of this festival is called Rdgi Pongoly or the Pongol of
Rgoicingi and it is kept by inviting the near relations to an entertain-^
ment, which passes off with hilarity and mirth.

The second day is called Surya Pongol^ or Pongol of the Sun, and
is set apart for the honour of that luminary. Married women sStet
purifying themselves by bathing, which they perform by plunging into
the water, without taking off their clothes, and coming out all dripping
with wet, set about boiling rice in the open air, and not under any
cover. They use milk in the operation ; and when it begins to simmer,

3d 2

3gg^ FESTIVALS.

they make a loud cry, all at once, repeating the words, Pongolj 0 Pan-^
gol ! The vessel is then lifted off the fire, and set before the idol of
Vighneswara, which is placed close by. Part of the mess of rice is of-
fered to the image ; and, after standing there for some time, it is given
to the cow ; and the remainder of the rice is then distributed among
the people.

This is the great day of Visits among the Hindus. The salutation
begins by the question, " Has the milk boiled ?" to which the answer
is " It has boiled." From this the festival takes its name of Pongol ;
which is derived from the verb Ponghedi in Talagu, and Pongradam in
Tamul, both of which signify " to boil."

The third day, not less solemn than the preceding, is consecrated
with ceremonies still more absurd, and is called the Pongol of Cow$.

In a great vessel, filled with water, they put some saffiron, the seeds
of the tree Parati and leaves of the tree Vepu. After being well
mixed, they go ];ound all the cows and oxen belonging to the house,
several times, sprinkling them with the water, as they turn to the four
cardinal points. The Sashtangam, or prostration of the eight members,
is made before them four times. Men only perform this ceremony, the
women staying away.

The cows are then all dressed out, their horns being painted with
various colours, and garlands of flowers and foliage put round their
necks and over their backs. They likewise add strings of cocoa-nuts
and other fruits, which are soon shaken off by the brisk motion of the
animal which these trappings occasion, and are picked up by children
and others, who follow the cattle on purpose, and greedily eat what they
gather, as something sacred. They are then driven, in herd, through
the villages, and made to scamper about from side to side by the jarring
noise of many sounding instruments. The remainder of the day, they
are allowed to feed at large without a keeper ; and whatever trespasses
they commit are suffered to pass without notice or restraint.

At last the festival concludes by taking the idols from the temples,
and carrying them in pomp to the place where the cattle have been
again collected. The girls of pleasure, or dancers, who are found at all
ceremonies, are not wanting here. They march at the head of a great

FESTIVALS. dg9

concourse of people ; now and then making a pause to exhibit their
wanton movements and charm the audience with their lascivious songs.

The whole terminates with a piece of diversion, which appears to be
waggishness rather than any part of the ceremony. The numerous rabble
who are present form themselves into a ring, and a live hare is let go in
the midst of it. Poor puss, finding no outlet by which it can escape, flies
to one side and the other, sometimes making a spring over the heads
of the throng, which produces incredible mirth in the crowd, till the
creature is at length worn out and caught. The idols are then recon-
ducted to the temples, with the same pomp as. when they were brought
away. And thus closes the festival of the Pongol; the most celebrated,
undoubtedly, of all the rites which are performed during the course of
the year.

Thus have we given an abridgement of the extravagant absurdities to
which the Hindus give themselves up, in the celebration of their festi-
vals ; and such is the excess of folly to which the human mind can
surrender itself, in matters of religion, when it has no other light to
guide its steps than its own, or when it takes the dreary road of super-
stition.

If reasonable men, being convinced by the testimony of their con-
science and that of the whole universe, that there is an Invisible Being,
Almighty, Lord of all, and Ruler over all, were to unite in ofiering
adoration and sacrifice to Him whom they acknowledge as the Author
of all things, whatever his nature may be ; if they were to join in
exultation and rejoicing, as if to felicitate each other on the blessings
which they all received from that Invisible Being ; there would be
nothing in all that, but what is commendable and worthy of imitation.
But, when we behold a cultivated race, one that stands the earliest in
the order of civilization, delivering itself, without scruple or shame, to
extravagancies so monstrous as those we have described, and to others
perhaps more absurd, which we have still to enumerate ; ought we to
attribute all these excesses to the mere weakness of the human mind ?
Or ought we not rather to admit the agency and subornation of an evil
spirit, seeking to seduce men by the vain shew of superstitious rites ?
They would undoubtedly be considered acts of fatuity, if committed by

II *

390 FESTIVALS.

individuals ; and why should they be held l^s insane because they are
practised by whole nations ?

The grossness of the idolatry which universally prevails in India is
such, that persons, educated in a way altogether dissimilar, find it diffi**
cult to comprehend how an intelligent people should be attached to so
absurd a worship, and should never have attempted to emerge from the
glbom of darkness into which they have been plunged : just as if it
were possible to reason wisely on the subject of religion, and to form a
rational system, when the human understanding has (rod no longer for
its ruler, nor revelation for its guide.

Besides, humanly speaking, we feel less surprize in this respect, when,'
upon attentive examination, we clearly perceive that the laws and cus-^
toms^ both civil and religious, of this people, are so closely combined
together, that any infringement of the one is sure to break down the
other. Education, prejudice, and national bias have, in all times, led
them to consider the two principal pillars of civilization, religion and
civil rule, to be indissolubly connected ; and they are persuaded that
neither can be touched without inducing the reign of barbarism, or at
least without exciting the, most savage anarchy in the state.

The very extravagance, also, of the Hindu idolatry, the whole ritual of
which is nothing less than the subversion of common sense, serves to
give it a deeper root in the hearts of a people, sensual, enthusiastic, and
fond of the marvellous. They cannot see, in all the world, à religion
preferable to their own ; and, infatuated with their idols, they shut their
ears to the voice of nature, which cries so loudly against it.

But the Hindus are still more irresistibly attached to the species of
idolatry which they have embraced, by their uniform pride, sensuality,
and licentiousness. Whatever their religion sets before them tends to
encourage these vices ; and, consequently, all their senses, passions, and
interests are leagued in its favour. It is made up of diversion and
amusement Dances, shews, and lewdness, accompany it, and form a
part of the divine worship. Their festivals are nothing but sports ;
and, on no occasion of life, are modesty and decorum more carefully
excluded than during the celebration of their religious mysteries. How
can a people, ignorant of all enjoyment but that of sensual gratificar

FESTIVALS. 391

tion, fail to be attached to a religion so indulgent to its peculiar
passions ?

Interest, also, that powerful engine, which puts in motion all human
things, is a principal support of the edifice of Hindu idolatry. Those
who are at the head of this extravagant worship, most of them quite
conscious of its absurdity, are the most zealous in promoting its diffu-
sion, because it affords them the means of living. Such impostors will
suffer no opportunity to escape by which they may more deeply infatu-
ate the people with the idolatry and superstition in which they have
been bred. Well acquainted with the sway which their senses maintain
over them, they take care to accompany the public rites and ceremonies
with all the pomp and splendour which can impose upon their fancy.

These artifices are employed, above all, in some celebrated Pagodas.
The persons who preside there, who live tlie year round, in voluptuous
indolence^ upon the abundant offerings brought to them on the anniver-
sary of their festival, spare no pains to gratify the superstition which
animates their votaries. Triumphal cars, superbly decorated in the
Hindu fashion, on which the idols are placed in all their splendid finery,
are exposed to public veneration. Songs, dancing, shews, fire-works,
and an unceasing round of diversions ; the sight of an immense assem-
bly, where numbers of the wealthy contend with each other for the
palm of luxurious extravagance and shew ; and above all, the extreme
licence which prevails through all classes, and the facility with which
every individual can humour the bent of his desires : all these things
are infinitely delightful to a people who have no relish for any pleasure
but that of the senses. They fly to these festivals, therefore, from all
quarters. Even the poor husbandman, to whom, with a numerous fami-
ly, the scanty crop scarcely affords subsistence through the course of the
year, forgetful of his future wants, sells a part of his stock for a contri-
bution to this ridiculous worship, and for offerings to the impostors who
thus entertain them at the expence of the public credulity.

The places where these festivals are held are famous all around, and
are considered as holy and consecrated spots ; in order to keep up the
delusion and increase the confidence of the people. The Brahmans,
who have the charge of the temples, besides the pomp and splendour

392 FESTIVALS.

with which they dazzle the multitude, have recourse to another species
of imposture, not less powerful, amongst a race credulous in the extreme,
and lovers of the marvellous. They preserve a long list of miracles,
which they pretend to have been wrought by the God of stone who
resides in their temple, in behalf of those who have brought him rich
offerings and trusted in him. Sometimes it is a barren woman whom
he has blessed with fertility ; sometimes one blind whom he has re-
stored to sight; sometimes lepers who have been cured, or cripples
who have recovered the use of their limbs. The silly Hindu swalloWs
the bait, and never dreams of the designs of the impostors.

This digression has insensibly led me too far out of my course ; my
intention having been merely to shew, by the way, that the very extrar-
vagance of the ceremonies I have been describing, so far from rendering
them ridiculous or contemptible, is the strongest aid to the progress of
superstition and idolatry among the Hindus.

If one adds to this the prodigious antiquity from which they draw
their fabulous religion ; the wonderful and astonishing incidents in the
lives of their Gods, Giants, and early Kings ; the enchantments, true or
imaginary, effected by their philosophers ; the austere seclusion of their
ascetics ; the rigid abstinence from animal food of all the nobler part of .
the nation ; their daily and scrupulous purification ; and, finally, their
prayers and vain contemplation : all this may at least serve to excusé
the e^lfess of their superstition ; and, at the same time, by shewing us
the monstrous aberrations to which the human mind is subject in regard
to religion, may lead those amongst ourselves, who are conscious of
clearer views and sounder information on that important subject, to be
thankful to the Father of Mercies j who, by the blessing of the shining
light of revelation, has relieved us from the thick darkness of idolatry,
in which, for some secret purpose known only to Himself, and which it
is not lawful for us to scrutinize. He has permitted so many nations to
grope Î some of which, perhaps, might have turned to a better account
than we have done, that inestimable blessing, which, being a fi'ee and
unmerited gift, is the more to be prized.

( 393 )

CHAR III.

OF THE TEMPLES OF THE HINDUS AND THE CEREMONIES THERE PRACTISED.

X HERE is not, perhaps, in the whole world, a land in which the
Buildings destined for religious uses are so numerous as in India ; and
there are few in which the popular credulity and superstition have better
answered the purposes of the founders of the false religions which have
been there established.

One hardly sees a village, however small, in which there is not a
Pagoda, or building set apart to the worship of the divinities whom
they adore. It has become proverbial amongst them» that a man should
not live where there is no temple ; and they are satisfied that, sooner or
later, some mischief must befal those who disregard this maxim.

Of the good works recommended to the rich, one of the most
honourable and most meritorious is to lay out a part of their fortune in
erecting buildings for religious worship, and endowing them with a suit-
able revenue. Such works of merit never fail to draw down upon those
who practise them the protection of the gods, the remission of sin, and
a happy world after death.

Yet it happens that the greater number of those who ruin themselves
by- these works of merit, generally undertake them from motives of
vanity and ostentation rather than of devotion. These are the predo-
minant vices amongst the Hindus ; and in this case, above all others,
the desire of renown and of obtaining the praises of ihen has, assured-
ly, more influence on their conduct than any expectation of meriting
the protection of the gods, in honour of whom they incur those foolish
expences.

3£

394 TEMPLES.

Besides the Temples of Idols that are seen in all the villages, we
meet with many in places insulated, and remote from all habitation ;
in woods, on the banks and in the middle of rivers, near great lakes
and other places ; but, above all, on mountains and even the steepest
rocks.

This propensity for erecting temples and other religious houses, on
mountains and other elevated situations, is observable throughout India,
in such a degree, that scarcely a summit is to be seen that is not sur-
mounted with some building of this nature.

This propensity I have thought worthy of remark ; and I cannot at-
tribute it solely to the desire of exhibiting their temples to greater
advantage, or of rendering the glory of the founders more conspicuous in
the eyes of posterity, but to other motives. Indeed, the conduct of the
Hindus, in this instance, is by no means peculiar. The Holy Scripture
informs us that the same feeling existed, not only among the ancient
idolatrous nations, but also extended to the chosen people of God. The
Israelites were accustomed to chuse a mountain, when they offered
their supplications and sacrifices to the Lord. Solomon himself, before
the building of the Temple of Jerusalem, religiously conformed to this
practice, by selecting Mount Gibeon, the highest eminence in his
neighbourhood, on which to sacrifice his burnt-offerings. And when
the ten tribes separated themselves, in the reign of Jeroboam, they
erected their sacrilegious altars on the mountain of Samaria.

When God prescribed to the Israelites the conduct they were to pur-
sue, in taking possession of the land of Canaan ; he commanded them,
above all things, to demolish the temples of idols, which the nations
who inhabited that country had erected on the mountains, and other
" high places ;". to break the images in pieces, and to destroy the
^^ Groves" which they had planted, and under the cover of which they
probably hid (as the Hindus do at the present day) the objects of their
idolatrous worship.

But whence can have arisen this custom, still subsisting in India, and
so common in all other ancient nations, of erecting their places of wor-
ship on those lofty summits ?

TEMPLES.

395

When the universal deluge abated^ the ark of Noah grounded on
the highest mountains of Armenia ; and there he offered to God the
first sacrifice of thanks. Mount Ararat, probably, long continued to be
held sacred by the Patriarch and his descendants ; and was, no doubt,
frequently visited as the scene of their deliverance; and, for the
purpose of testifying their gratitude to the Lord, on the spot where
his divine mercy had been so conspicuous ; as well as to renew from
time to time the expression of their thankfulness, and to repeat the
sacrifices jw^hich Noah offered on the day when he descended from the
ark. It is probably from that period, and from that event, that the
custom has arisen among so many ancient nations, and still continues,
of selecting high elevations for their places of worship; as if to
approach more nearly to the sublime throne of the Divinity.

Besides the temples of the idols, there are to be seen in all parts of
India, objects of the popular worship, represented by statues of stone
or of baked earth, but most commonly sculptured in blocks of granite.
Many of these are met with near the high roads ; at the entrance into
villages ; on the banks of the lakes ; but, above i^l, under bushy trees
of that kind, chiefly, which are held sacred by the superstition of the
country. Such are the AruH-maram, Ali-^maram, Bevinor-maram, and
other trees ; and under the shadow of their branches the Hindus delight
to deposit the gods whom they adore. Of the infinite number of
images of stone, that are scattered all over the country, some are
placed under niches, but the greater number are exposed in the
open air.

The most of the Hindu temples have a most miserable ap-
pearance, and resemble ovens rather than places designed for the
residence of gods. Some of them likewise answer the purpose of
a court of justice, a town hall, or a choultry for the reception of
travellers, as well as a temple for religious worship. But there are
some also, which, from a distant view^ have a majestic appearance,
and which, by the taste of their architecture, sometimes excite the
admiration of the traveller, and recal those times of antiquity when
artists laboured for posterity as well as for contemporary &me, by

3e 2

396 TEMPLES.

erecting solid and durable works, which outlast the flimsy, though
more elegant erections of others.

The form of the larger temples, both ancient and modern, is always
the same. The Hindus are attached in all things to the ancient
customs of their ancestors ; and they have not departed from them in
the style of their public edifices. . For this reason, their architecture
most probably exhibits a more faithfiil model of the manner of building
used by the first civilized nations than that of the Egyptians or the
Greeks can do. ^

The gate of entrance of their great pagodas is cut through a huge
pyramid, which graduaUy becomes narrower, and almost always
finishes at the top in a crescent This pyramid fronts the east, towards
which the gate of every templesm all or great is turned.

In pagodas of the first order, beyond the pyramid, there is com-
monly a large court ; at the end of which another gate appears, cut
like the former, through a second pyramid; massy, but not so lofty as
the first. This being passed through, there is another court ; at the
end of which the temple for the residence of the idol is built

Opposite to the gate of the temple, and in the middle of the second
court, there is placed, upon a large pedestal, or in a kind of niche,
supported by four pillars, and open on all sides, a grotesque figure,
representing a cow or buH, lying flat on its belly. Sometimes it re-
presents the Lingam, sometimes the god Vighneswara, Hanuman,
the serpent Capella, or some other of the principal objects of their
idolatry. The divinity, situated in this niche, is the first object to
which the votaries present their homage. They adore it by making
the Sashtangam before it ; at the same time, touching the pavement
with both corners of their forehead. Some, less ardent, instead of the
Sashtangam, content themselves with the Namaskaram, by joining
their hands together, and raising them to their forehead, thumping
their cheeks with the right hand After this homage to the exterior
object of worship, they are allowed to enter into the interior of the
temple.

The door is generally narrow and low, although it be the only

aperture through which air and the light of day can enter, the use of

TEMPLES. 397

windows being wholly unknown to the Hindus. The building is
divided into two, and sometimes into three parts ; all on a level. One
of these divisions is very large, to accommodate all persons of good
cast who chuse to enter. This may be called the Nave ; and the
smaller one, which we may call the Sanctuary, is separated from the
other, communicating only by a door, which can be opened by nobody
but him who holds the office of sacrificer and chief functionary of the
temple. He only, and a few of his attendants by his leave, can enter
into this sacred place to dress the idol, to wash it, to offer it flowers,
incense, lighted lamps, fruits, betel, butter, milk, rich, apparel,
ornaments of gold and silver, and a thousand other articles of which
their sacrifice and offering consist.

The nave of the temple is sometimes arched with brick, but
generally with a ceiling constructed of large and massy blocks, sup-
ported by pillars of hewn stone rising from the floor, the capitals of
which are composed of two other solid stones, which cross each other
and support rafters of the same material, which also extend cross-
wise through the whole length and breadth of the ceiling. Upon
these rafters are placed other hewn stones, flatter and broader, with
which the temple is roofed. The chinks are stopped with good cement
to keep out the water.

The scarcity of timber in India may probably account for its being
never used in the construction of their temples. Perhaps also the am-
bition of having solid and durable edifices has determined them to use
only brick and stone. But, it is certain that wood is no where em-
ployed in a Hindu temple but for the doors.

The sanctuary or receptacle of the idols is generally constructed
with a dome. The whole building is low, no doubt from the difficulty
of finding stones adapted to the length of column necessary for the
support of the roof The proper proportion of height is therefore
deficient in the Hindu temples ; which, being added to the want of
circulation of air, by the narrowness of the doors, often occasions un-
pleasant consequences to those who fi^equent them.

If we combine with these horrors, the infectious efiluvia arising from
the smell of decayed flowers, burning lamps^ libations of oil and melted

398 TEMPLES.

butter, added to the rank perspiration of a multitude squeezed together
in such a place, we may form some idea of the stench which exhales
from the shrines of the deities of India.

The horrid filth, too, in which these divinities are kept^ cannot fail
to be disgusting to unpractised eyes. It would be difficult to imagine
any thing more hideous than their appearance. They are generally re-
presented in frightful or ridiculous attitudes; but no distinguishing
feature can be perceived, on account of the dark hue they contract by
being perpetually daubed with oil and melted butter, mixed with other
ingredients. They have the same custom of blackening the triumphal
cars, which are every where seen transporting the idols through the
streets, in their processions ; but this dingy and filthy appearance is ad-
mired, as proceeding from the frequent oblations of butter and oil, to
which they give the name of Nivetiam or consecration. Without this,
objects of worship could not be consecrated ; for no statue or image
can be exhibited to public adoration until the Purohita Brahman has
invoked into it the Divinity, by virtue of his mantras, and has imbued
it with the Nivetiam by drenching it with oil and liquid butter.

Something analogous to this practice may be observed in the Holy
Scripture. Thus Jacob, after his dream, " rose up early in the mom-
" ing, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for
" a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it*." And afterwards, in
alluding to it, the angel says to him : " I am the God of Bethel, where
" thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me f."
Libations of oil were employed in the same manner, by many ancient
nations, in the consecration of living and inanimate objects.

But to return to the Hindu temples. Besides the idols in the inte-
rior or sanctuary, other objects of worship are set up in different parts,
sculptured on the pillars which support the building ; and on the walls.

In the outer court, the niches, in which the images of men or ani-
mals are set, have the front filled with figures bearing allusion to their
fables, or with the most monstrous obscenities. The principal walls with-
out, which are of strength proportioned to the rest of the building, are
likewise covered with them, in some instances, all round.

* Gen.xxviii. IS. f Gen. xxxi. IS.

TEMFLBS. 399

Some of these idols, and in particular the principal one which resides
in the sanctuary, are clothed with valuable garments, and adorned with
jewels of great price. A golden or silver crown is never wanting, or
rays of glory of the same metal, for their heads. In the great temples
these ornaments are enriched with precious stones, encreasing their
value to many thousand pagoda coins. But all this finery, lavished on
such hideous forms, tends only to make them more horrid ; and, what
still increases their deformity, is the eyes, mouth, nose and ears of gold
and silver, which are frequently stuck upon their sooty heads.

On the outside of the temple, opposite to the door of entrance and
at a small distance, there is commonly a pillar of granite erected, of an
octagonal shape, cut from a single block, sometimes forty or fifty fe^
in height. It is inserted in a huge pedestal, formed of one or more
pieces of freestone. Its base is square, and has several figures sculp-
tured on it. The capital of the column terminates in a square, from
the comers of which small bells are commonly hung. On the middle
of this square, at the summit of the column, there is a sort of grate on
which incense is sometimes burned ; but they, more commonly, have
lighted lamps.

High columns of this kind are frequently met with on the highways ;
and where they stand, in desert places, the devotees in the neighbour-
hood keep the lamps occasionally burning on the tops.

I am led to believe that these lofty pillars, which are always placed
towards the east, are erected in honour of fire, or rather of the sun,
the brightest emblem of that element. In the festival of Divuligay
formerly described, which appears to be instituted in honour of the
fire, many lamps are lighted on the tops of the piUars, as long as the
festival continues. Sometimes they are wholly in a blaze, by wrap-
ping many pieces of new cloth round the column, and setting them on
fire.

There are some celebrated temples, whose income is sufficient to
maintain several thousand persons, employed in the various functions
of idolatrous worship. These are of various casts, though the greater
number are Brahmans.

400 TEMPLES.

Of these various ministers of the temples, the sacrificers occupy the
first rank. They may be either Brahmans, or of any other cast ; for,
in some temples, under certain circumstances, even Pariahs assume the
office of sacrificers. This I know to be the case in a celebrated temple
in the Mysore, called Melcota, at a solemn festival celebrated there
every year. The Pariahs, on that occasion, are the first to enter into
the sanctuary of the temple, with oiferings to the idol ; and the Brah-
mans do not begin till they have ended.

The oblations or sacrifices ofiered in most of the Hindu temples
consist of the simple productions of nature, such as boiled rice, flow-
ers, fruits, and the like, but above all of lamps, of which many thou-
sands are sometimes seen burning in the temple. They feed them with
butter, in preference to oil.

The Hindu priests regularly ofler up sacrifice twice every day, even-
ing and morning. They always begin the ceremony by washing the
idol that is the object of it. The water used is brought from the siver
or tank, with processional pomp and state. In some great pagodas, it
is brought on the backs of elephants, escorted by many of the Brah-
mans and other ministers of the temple, preceded by the musicians
and dancers belonging to it.

In smaller temples, the Brahmans themselves bring it morning and
evening, on their heads, in copper pitchers, attended by the music, the
dancing girls and other assistants. The water, so set apart for washing
the idols, is called Tirtham^ or holy water.

When the sacrificer has washed the images, he offers up the sacri-
fice ; the material of which is generally brought by the votaries.

Two things are indispensably necessary to the sacrificer in performing
the ceremony : several lighted lamps, and a bell, which he holds in his
left hand during the whole time, while, with his right hand, he offers
his oblation to the gods, and adorns them with flowers ; imprinting on
their foreheads, and various parts of their bodies, some of the marks
which the Hindus are accustomed to apply to themselves, with sandal
wood and cow-dung ashes. The followers of Vishnu in this case, im-
press on their idols the figure of the Nama. All the sacrifices are ac-
companied with mantras suited to the circumstances, and with innu-

TEMPLES. * 401

merable T)Ows and gesticulations, the most of which would appear ex-
ceedingly ridiculous to an European.

During the. actual performance of the sacrifice^ the priest is quite
alone in the sanctuary, the door of which he closes. The unholy mul-
titude remain in the nave, silently waiting till he has done. What he
does they cannot know, only hearing the sound of his bell. The whole
ceremony is performed with the utmost rapidity, and with no signs of
reverence or awe.

When it is over, he comes out, and distributes part of the articles
which had been offered to the idols. This is received as something
holy^ and is eaten immediately, if it be fruit, rice, or any article of food.
If flowers, they stick them in their turbans ; and the girls entwine
them in their hair. Last of all, the priest takes some of the Tirtham or
holy water in the hollow of his hand, which is drank by those who can
reach it ; afl:er which the assembly breaks up.

^ext to the Sacrificers, the most important persons about the tem-
ples are the dancing girls, who call themselves Devor-dariy $erv(mt$ or
skwes of the gods ; but they are known to the public by the coarser
name of strumpets. Their profession, indeed, requires of them to bé
open to the embraces of persons of all casts; and, although originally they
appear to have been intended for the gratification of the Brahmans only^
they are now obliged to extend their favours to all who solicit them.

Such are the loose females who are consecrated in a special manner
to the worship of the gods of India. Every temple, according to its
size, entertains a band of them, to the number of eight» twelve, os'
more. The service they perform consists of dancing and singing.
The first they execute with grace, though with lascivious attitudes and
motions. Their chanting is generally confined to the obscene songs
which relate to some circumstance or other of the licentious lives of
their gods.

They perform their religious duties at the temple to which they be-
long twice a-day, morning and evening. They aire also obliged to assist
at aU the public ceremonies, which they enliven with their dance and
merry song. As soon as their public business is over, they open

^02 TEMFLBS:

their cells of infamy, and frequently convert the temple itablf mto a

stew. • '

They are bred to this profligate life from their infancy. Tk&y are
taken from any cast, and are frequendy of respectable birth. It ia
nothing uncommon to hear of pregnant women, in the belief that it will
tend to their happy delivery, making a vow, with the consent of their
husbands, to devote the child then in the womb, if it should turn out a
girl, to the service of the Pagoda. And, in doing so, they imagine they
are performing a meritorious duty. The infamous life to which the
daughter is destined brings no disgrace on the family.

These prostitutes are the only females in India who may learn td
read, to sing, and to dance. Such accomplishments belong to them
exclusively, and are, for that reason, held by the rest of thé sex in such
abhorrence, that every virtuous woman would consider the mention of
them as an affront.

These performers are supported out of the revenues of the temple, of
which they receive a considerable share. But their dissolute profession
is still more productive. In order to stimulate more briskly the passion
which their lewd employment is intended to gratify, they have recourse
to the same artifices as are used by persons of their sex and calling m
other countries. Perfumes, elegant and attractive attire, particularly of
the head, sweet-scented flowers intertwined with exquisite art about
their beautiful hair, multitudes of ornamental trinkets adapted with in-^
finite taste to the different parts of the body, a graceful carriage and
measured step, indicating luxurious delight ; such are the allurements
and the charms which these enchanting syrens display to accomplish
their seductive designs.

From infancy they are instructed in the various modes of kindling the
fire of voluptuousness in the coldest hearts ; and they well know how
to vary their arts and adapt them to the particular disposition of those
whom they wish to seduce.

At the same time, notwithstanding their alluring demeanor, they
cannot be accused of those gross indecencies which are often publicly
exhibited by women of their stamp in Europe; particularly the exposure
of the person and the lascivious airs which one ivould think capable of

T£MLPL£S. 403

inspiring the most; determined libertine with disgust : on the contrary,
of all the women in India, the common girls, and particularly the
dancers at the temples, are the most decently clothed. They are so
nice in covering' every part of the body, as to have the appearance of
being a£^tedly precise, or as if they intended, by the contrast with the
more open attire of other dames, to excite more strongly the passion
which they wished to inspire, by carefully veiling a part of the charms
which it covets.

Neither can they be reproached with that impudent assurance exhi-
bited in public by the j^essalinas of Europe. Shameless as the dancing
girls of India appear to be, they will not venture, upon any occasioii,
to stop a man in the streets, or to take any indecent liberty in public.
And, on the other hand, a man who would take such liberties» even
with a prostitute, so &r from being applauded, or joked with, by the
spectators, as happens in some other countries, would be obliged to hide
his head for shame, and would be treated with marks of indignation.

Relaxed as the manners of the Hindus are, they know how to observe,
in public, that decorum which every class of people owes to another, in
the intercourse of life ; and which are never violated, with impunity,
but in nations arrived at the last degree, of corruption.

After the Dancing Women, the next order of persons employed in
the service of the temples is that of the Players on Musical Instruments.
Every Pagoda, of any note, has a band of Musicians; who, as well as
the dancers, are obliged to attend at the temple twice every day, to
make it ring with their discordant sounds and inharmonious airs. They
are also obliged to assist at all public ceremonies and festivals, to en-
liven them with their music; and they, likewise, are paid from, the
revenue of the temple.

Their band generally consists of wind instruments^ resembling clario-
nets and hautboys ; to which they add cymbals and several kinds of
drums. They produce, out of these instruments, a confusion of sharp
and piercing sounds, little suited to please an European ear. They are
acquainted, however, with music in two parts. Intermixed with the
instruments, they haye always a bass and b high counter ; the first of

3f 2

404 TEMPLES.

which is produced by blowing into a kind of tube, widened below, and
yielding an uninterrupted and uniform stream of sound resembling die
braying of a wide horn.

Part of the musicians execute the* vocal part, and sing hymns in
honour of the gods. The Brahmans, and other devotees, sometimes
join in the chorus, and sometimes sing, separately, airs or other sacred
pieces of their own composition.

The Dancing Women, the Singers, and the Instruiùental Ferfonnérs
relieve one another, by taking up their several parts, in rotation, to the
close of the ceremony ; which is often terminated by a procession around
the temple ; whilst, night and morning, th.e jovial girls fail not to per-
form the Arati over the idols of the temple, for the purpose of averting
the fatal influence of the looks and glances of envious or evil-minded
persons ; the gods themselves not being exempt from that species of
incantation.

In the band of musicians belonging to each temple, the most conspi-
cuous performer of all is the Nahtuva or Sahtwoa^ who beats time. He
does it by tapping with his fingers on each side of a sort of drum tightly
braced. As he beats, his head, shoulders, arms, and every muscle of
his frame, are in motion. He jouses the musicians with his voice, and
animates them with his gestures ; and, at times, he appears agitated
with violent convulsions.

To an European ear, as we have already remarked, the vocal and in-
strumental music of the Hindus would appear equally contemptible.
Yet they have a Gamut like ours, composed of seven notes ; and they
are taught music methodically. They are likewise expert in keeping
time, and they have also our variety of keys.

In their Vocal Music, a monotonous dulness prevails ; and, in the
Instrumental, they produce nothing but harsh, sharp, and piercing
sounds, which would shock the least delicate ear.

But^ although the Hindu music, when compared with the European,
does not deserve the name, I conceive that we have degraded it beneath
its humble deserts. European ears and musicians are by no means im-
partial judges. To appretiate their music rightly, we ought to go back
two or three thousand years, and place ourselves in those remote ages

TEMPLES. 405

when the Druids and other leaders of the popular belief in the greater
part of £urope, used, m their rites, nothing but dismal and horrid
shrieks, and had no instrumental music but what was produced by
clashing one plate of metal against another, by beating on a stretched
skin, or raising a dull and droning sound from a horn or a rude instru*
ment of twisted bark.

We ought to recollect that the Hindus have never had the thought
of bringing any thing to perfection ; and that, in science, arts, and
manufactures, they have remained stationary at the point where they
were two or three thousand years ago. Their musicians, in those remote
ages, were as skilful as those of the present time. But if we compare
the Hindu music, as we now hear it, with that of Europe, as it was two
or three thousand years ago, I have no doubt that the former would take
high precedence over all others in a similar stage of society.

The Gamut has been known to the Hindus from the earliest times ;
and it is probable that it has been borrowed from them by the other
nations who now use it It is but in modem times that it has been in-
troduced into Europe by the Benedictine Monk Guido Aretino, who
adapted it to the seven signs, utj re, mi, fa, sol, la^ sa, which are the first
syllables of some words contained in the first strophe of the Latin hymn
composed in honour of St. John the Baptist, which runs thus :

1 2

^^ Ut queant Iaxis resonare fibris

3 4

^^ Mira gestorum famuli tuorum,
" Solve poUuti labii reatum,

" Sancte Joannes !"

The gamut of the Hindus is exactly the same as ours, being com-
posed of the same number of notes, and arranged in the same way. It
is expressed by the signs or syllables following :

&, Rif Ga^ Ma, Pa^ Da, Ni, Sa ; or
ut, re, mi, fa, sol, la, si, ut.

and also So, Ni, Da, Pa, Ma, Ga, Mi, Sa ,- or
ut, si, la, sol, ÛL, mi, le, ut.

405 TEBiPLES.

The musicians of India have no more than three and thirty tunes ; eadr
of which has its particular name. Yet, though their whole musical
knowledge is limited to these thirty-three airs, there are few that know
them all ; and the greater number are not capable of playing one half
of them.

All the musicians belonging to the temples are taken from the cast
of Barbers, one of the lowest among the Sudras. The department of
wind-instruments belongs, almost exclusively, to this cast, or to others
of a rank equally low ; and, so degraded has the employment become
in the eyes of the Hindu people, that no individual of a respectable
cast would condescend to put a wind-instrument to his mouth. But
the Brahmans themselves disdain not to practise upon stringed instru-
ments : a preference which will be afterwards accounted for.

The expence of the idolatrous worship of the Hindus being very consi-
derable, the several Pagodas have, necessarily, resources for defraying
it. In several districts they draw a sort of tithe out of the produce of
the harvest. In other parts, they have the absolute property of exten<*
sive lands, exempted from all taxation ; the produce of which is exclu-
sively assigned to those who perform the rites of the temple. Besides,
the humblest Pagoda is not without great numbers of votaries and de-
votees ; who bring in considerable offerings, in money, trinkets, cattle,
provisions, and other articles ; all which are divided amongst the func-
tionaries of the temple, according to their dignity and rank.

Sometimes the revenues of a temple, arising from such offerings,
have been large enough to tempt the cupidity of some of the Princes,
particularly of the Moorish race. These considerate rulers have some-
times found it convenient to lay hold of more than one half of the
income proceeding from the offerings made to the temple by the devo-
tees ; which they represented to be but a fair indemnification for their
trouble in protecting the religion of the country.

In the several Pagodas, the Brahmans, who are the principal minis-
ters, omit no sort of imposture to keep up the popular credulity, and to
allure votaries to the worship of that deity by which they live. For
this purpose, they resort to various means ; amongst which may be

TEMPLES. 407

enumerated the Oracles, which they ascribe to their deities, and the
Miracles which they perform. The oracles are managed by some ex-
pert Brahmans, who understand this sort of roguery, and contrive to
introduce some person within the images, which are generally hollow,
or conceal themselves hard bv so as not to be observed, and, from that
concealment, harangue the multitude ; all of whom firmly believe that
it is the image itself that speaks, and therefore listen to the oracular
admonition with awful silence. The impostors who carry on this de-
ception, sometimes take upon themselves to predict future events, but
in so obscure and ambiguous a way, that, however the issue may
turn out, they may always have it in their power to make it accord
with their predictions.

But the most successful artifice is generally in causing complaints to
be made to the idol, that the number of his votaries and the value of
their ofierings are decreasing. They represent him as saying, in reply,
that if the zeal of the people does not wax warmer j and the ofierings
increase, instead of falling ofi*, he will quit the temple, abandon a
people so ungrateful îox his protection, and retire into sortie other
country where he will bë better received.

At other times the priests put the idols in irons, chaining their
hands and feet. They exhibit them to the people in this humiliating
state, into which they tell them they have been brought by rigorous cre-
ditors, from whom their gods had been obliged, in times of trouble,
to borrow money to supply their wants. They declare that the inex-
orable creditors refuse to set the god at liberty until the whole sum,
with interest, shall have been paid. The people come forward, alarmed
at the sight of their divinity in irons ; and, thinking it the most meri-
torious of all good works to contribute to his deliverance, they raise the
sum required by the Brahmans for that purpose ; and this being settled,
the chains are soon dissolved and the idol restored to liberty.

In some famous temples, such as that of Tirupati^ they make use
of silver chains, instead of iron, when it is necessary to put the idol
under restraint.

Another sort of imposture is often practised by the Brahmans in many
parts ; which consists in announcing to the people, * and making them

408 TBBÉPLES.

believe» that the idol is afflicted with a dreadful malady» brought on by
the yexation of perceiving the devotion of the people and their former
confidence abating from day to day» In such cases» the idol is some-
times taken down from the pedestal, and placed at the door of the par
goda» where they rub his forehead and temples with various drugs.
They set before him all sorts of potions and medicines» shewing the
most earnest endeavours to cure him by these ordinary means : but all
thé resources of art proving useless» while the disorder continues to in-
crease» the Brahmans send out their emissaries to all parts to spread
the afflicting news. An ignorant and stupid people implicitly believes
in the ridiculous imposture» and hastens with gifts and ofierings. The
deity beholding such proofs of reviving piety and confidence» feels him*
ueLf instantly relieved from his melancholy» and resumes his station.

The Brahmans who direct the public worship» frequently resort to
another species of trick» equally gross as the former» for the purpose of
inspiring a salutary fear of the idol» and of attracting ample donations
to his temple. This is effected by representing their god as enraged
against certain individuals who have ofiended him» into whose bodies
he has sent a Pis€u:ha or demon» to avenge his insulted honour upon
them by every species of torment.

Persons accordingly appear, wandering about in all parts of the
country» exhibiting» by dreadful convulsions and contortions» every
symptom of being possessed by the evil spirit. Well instructed in
their art they tell a marvellous story, wherever they go, of some god
or other, to whom they are obnoxious, having sent a fiend to dwell
within them and to torment them. To prove that it is really a wicked
demon that haunts them, they babble in various languages» of which
they have had a previous smattering, but which now appears to be
the immediate inspiration of the demon who resides within them.
They publicly devour all sorts of meat, drink inebriating liquors» and
openly violate the most sacred rules of their cast. All these trans-
gressions are laid to the charge of the devil that possesses them ; and
no blame attaches to the unwilling instrument. The people» before
whom these impostures are exhibited» unsuspicious of the fraud» are
filled with dismay ; and prostrate themselves before the evil spirit»

TEMPLES. 409

with sacrifice and oblations, to render him innoxious. Whatever he
asks they bring. They give him to eat and to drink abundantly ; and,
when he leaves them, they accompany him with pomp and with the
sound of instruments, till he arrives at some other place, where he plays
the same game, and finds as silly dupes. In the lucid moments, whidi he
can easily command, he exhorts the crowds of spectators to profit by
the awful example before them, to have more regular confidence in
that god by whom he himself has been so grievously punished, to con-
ciliate his friendship by offerings and gifts, that they may not be subject
to the same severe punishments which have befallen him for his defed»
in piety and faith.

Another contrivance of the Brahmans, employed with no less suc-
cess, consists in the public testimony they give to a vast number of
pretended Miracles wrought by the god of their temple, in favour of
numerous votaries, who have she\m their faith in him, and brought him
abundant offerings. These miracles comprehend the cure of all sorts
of disease ; of the blind who have regained their sight ; the lame who
have recovered their limbs ; and the dead who have been raised.

But the miracle which takes precedence of all others, and is always
listened to with the highest delight and admiration, is the fecundity
conferred on numbers of women, who remained in a barren state,, till
their prayers and their offerings obtained from their divinity the gift of
children. We have seen that sterility in India is accounted a curse,
and that a childless woman is always despised.

In fact, there is no country on earth where population is so much
encouraged as amongst the Hindus. Their domestic institutions are in
this respect pre-eminent over those of other nations, who are vaunted
as at the very summit of civilization, although they have, in reality,
sunk to the lowest degree of vice, by the love of luxury, the thirst after
distinction and wealth, or other propensities not less despicabVe in the
eyes of the philosopher ; which have driven a vast number of their
most distinguished members to the horrid necessity of resisting nature
in the most general, most invariable, and also the sweetest of iier
inspirations } by opposing meditated obstacles to har principle of pro-

410 TEMPLES.

pagatîoD, and sometimes even by means which cannot be alluded to
without disgust.

. The Hindus, on the other hand, consider a man to be rich only in
proportion to the number of his children. However numerous a man's
fai^ily may be, he ceases not to offer prayers for its increase. A fruit-
ful wife is the highest blessing, in the eyes of a Hindu ; and no misery
can be compared with that of a barren bed.

The children become useful at an early age. At five or six years
old they tend the smaller animals. Those that are stouter, or a little
more advanced, take care of the cows and oxen ; whilst the adult assist
their fathers in agricultural labour, or in any other way in which they
can afford comfort to the authors of their being.

Superstition has a powerful influence in keeping up this vehement
desire of having children, which prevails among the Hindus; for,
according to their maxims, the greatest misery that can betide any man
is to be destitute of a son, or a grandson, to take charge of his obsequies.
In such a state he cannot look for a happy world hereafter.

In pursuance of this system, we see their barren women continually
running from temple to temple, ruining themselves frequently by the
extravagance of their donations to obtain from the ruling divinities the
object of their ardent desires. The Brahmans have turned the popular
credulity on this point to good account ; and there is no considerable
temple, whose residing deity does not, amongst many other miracles^
excel in that of curing barrenness in women.

There are some temples, however, of greater celebrity than others in
this way, to which women in that state resort in preference. Such is
that famous one of Tirupati in the Carnatic. Sterile women frequent
it, in crowds, to obtain children from the God Vcncata Ramana who
presides there. On their arrival, they apply, first of all, to the Brahmans,
to whom they disclose the nature of their pilgrimage and the object of
their vows. The Brahmans prescribe to the credulous women to pass
the night in the temple, in expectation that, by their faith and piety,
the resident god may visit them and render them prolific. In the silence
and darkness of the night, the Brahmans, as the vicegerents of the god,
visit the women, and in proper time disappear. In the morning, after

TEMPLES. 42 1

due inquiries, they congratulate them on the benignant reœption they
have met with from the god j and, upon receiving the gifts which they
have brought, take leave of them, with many assurances that the object
of their vows will speedily be accomplished.

The women, having no suspicion of the roguery of the Brahmans» go
home in the full persuasion that they have had intercourse with the
divinity of the temple, and that the god who has deigned to visit them
must have removed all impediments to their breeding.

There are many other excesses, still more extravagant, to which the
credulity and superstitious bias of the Hindus have led them, in this
particular. Among many examples of this kind which I could mention,
I shall take notice of one only ; which some of my readers will find as
much diflBculty in believing as I do in relating it : so repugnant it is to
all decency and modesty ; though I know it to be true.

At about ten leagues to the southward of Seringapatam, there is a vil*
lage called Nanjanagud^ where there is a temple, famous over all the
Mysore. Amongst the numbers of votaries, of every cast, who resort to
it, a great proportion consists of barren women, who bring offerings to
the god of the place, and pray for the gift of fruitfulness in return. But
the object is not to be accomplished by the offerings and prayers alone,
the disgusting part of the ceremony being still to follow. On retiring
from the temple, the woman and her husband repair to the common
sewer, to which all the pilgrims resort in obedience to the calls of nature.
There, the husband and wife collect, with their handsj a quantity of the
ordure ; which they set apart, with a mark upon it, that it may not be
touched by any one else ; and with their fingers in this condition, they
take of the water of the sewer in the hollow of their hands, and drink it
Then they perform ablution, and retire.

In two or three days, they return to the place of filth, to visit the
mass of ordure which they left. They turn it over with their hands^
break it, and examine it in every possible way ; and, if they find that
any insects or vermin are engendered in it, they consider it a favour-
able prognostic for the woman. But, if no symptoms of animation are
observed in the mass, they depart, disappointed and sorrowful, being
convinced that the cause of barrenness has not been removed,

3g 2

412 TEMPLES.

But these abominable practices, detestable as they appear, are not
the worst that the inordinate desire of having posterity gives rise to in
India. There are some, so enormously wicked, that every thing recorded
In history of the debauchery and obscenities that were practised among
the Greeks in the temple of Venus, by the courtesans consecrated to
that goddess, sinks to nothing in the comparison.

There are temples, in some solitary places, where the divinity requires
to be honoured with the most unbounded licentiousness. He promises
children to the barren women who will lay aside the most inviolable
rules of decency and shame, and, in honour of him, submit to indiscri-
minate embraces.

An annual festival is held, in the month of January, at those infamous
sinks of debauchery ; where, I need not say, great numbers of the
libertines of both sexes assemble, from all quarters. Besides barren
wives, who come in quçst of issue, by exposing their persons, some of
them having bound themselves by a vow to grant their favours to num-
bers, many other dissolute women also attend, to do honour to the
infamous deity, by prostituting themselves, openly and without shame,
before the gates of his temple.

. There is an abominable rendezvous of debauchery of this sort at the
distance of four or five leagues from the place where I am now writing
these pages. It is on the banks of the Cavery, in a desert place called
Junjindgati. There is a mean-looking Pagoda there, in which one of
those detestable idols resides who require to be honoured by the grossest
abominations. The January festival is regularly celebrated there by
great crowds of both sexes, with all their cereinonies and vows.
. In the district of Coimbetur, near a village called Kari-madai^ I
have seen a temple of this description ; and it was pointed out to me
that such places of debauchery were always situated in desert places, far
removed from all habitations.

We learn from ancient history, that a practice somewhat similar pre*-
vailed among the Assyrians and Babylonians ; with whom, according to
Herodotus andStrabo, every woman was obliged to make an offering of her
person, once in her life, in the temple of Mylitta ; the same as the Venus
of the Greeks. But the practice seems so horrid, and so revolting to

TEMPLES. 413

the feelings of our nature, that some tnodem authors deny that it ever
existed. Voltaire, with others, rejects it as incredible and absurd.
What would he have said, then, had he been told of the festival cele-
brated every year at Junjinagati and other places in India ? Does the
spirit of superstition admit of any bounds ? Or, rather, is there an excess
of any kind to which it is not prone ? The actual conduct of the Hindus,
with regard to religious ceremonies, is a living example of the monstrous
aberrations to which human reason is subject, when left to its own infor-
mation, or when urged by the passions ; and affords a direct confirmation
of the truth of all that ancient history has reported, in its most daring
and incredible flights, respecting the superstitious practices of the idola-
trous nations of antiquity.

I shall, next, take notice of another sort of Vows, very common
amongst the Hindus; which are absolved by suffering mutilation in
various ways, or by enduring bodily torments. They are generally
undertaken on occasions of disease, or any other danger, from which
they suppose they can be delivered by their eflBcacy. One of the most
common consists in stamping, upon the shoulders, chest, and other
parts of the body, with a red-hot iron, certain marks, to represent the
armour of theit gods ; the impressions of which are never effaced, but
are accounted sacred, and are ostentatiously displayed as marks of,
distinction.

A practice very common among the devotees consists in laying them-
selves at their whole length on the ground, and rolling in that posture
all round the temples, or before the cars on which the idols are placed
in solemn processions. On such occasions, it is curious to see the num-
bers of enthusiasts who roll in that manner before the car, over the roads
and streets, during the whole of the procession, regardless of the stones,
thorns, and other impediments which they encounter in their progress,
and by which they are mangled all over. It is in this class of enthusiasts
that some individuals are found so completely inspired by the demon of a
barbarous fanaticism, or seduced by the first incitements of a delirious
glow, that they roll themselves under the car on which the idols are
drawn, and are voluntarily crushed under the wheels. The surrounding

41 4 TEMPLES. •

crowd of enthusiasts, so far from trying to prevent this act of devotion,
loudly applaud the zeal of the victims, and exalt them amongst the
Gods.

One of the severest tests to which the devotees of India are accustomed
to. expose themselves, is that which they call in many places Chidi Mar{.
The name arises from this species of self-infliction being generally prac-
tised in honoiu* of the gpddess Maruamma (or Marima) one of the
most wicked and sanguinary of all that are adored in India. At many
temples, consecrated to this cruel divinity, a sort of gibbet is erected,
with a pulley at the arm, through which a line passes with a sharp hook
at the end. Those who have vowed to undergo the rough trial of
Chidi Mari, place themselves under the gibbet, from which the rope
and iron hook are let down. Then, after benumbing the flesh of the
middle of the back of the votary by rubbing it very roughly, they fix
the hook into it ; and, giving play to the other end of the string, they
hoist up to the top of the gibbet, the wretch, thus suspended by the
muscles of the back. After swinging in the air for two or three minutes,
he is let down again ; and the hook being unfixed, he is dressed with
proper medicines for his wound, and is dismissed in triumph.

Another well known proof of devotion, to which many oblige them-
selves, by vow, in cases of illness or other troubles, consists in walking
or rather running over burning coals. When this is to be performed,
they begin by kindling a blazing fire, and when the flames expire and
all the fuel is reduced to cinders, the votaries commence their race,
from the midst of a puddle of earth and water, which has been previ-
ously prepared for the purpose ; running quickly, over the glowing
embers, till they reach another puddle of the same kind on the other
side of the fire. But notwithstanding this precaution, those who have
a tender skin cannot fail to be grievously burnt.

Others, who are unfit for the race, in place of going through the fire,
take a cloth well moistened with water which they put over their head
and shoulders, and lift up a chafing-dish filled with live embers, which
they discharge over their heads. This is called the Fire Bath.

Another species of torture submitted to, in the fulfilment of vows, is
to pierce the cheeks, through and through, with a wire of silver or other

TEMPLES. 415

metal, fixed in such a manner that the mouth cannot he opened with-
out extreme pain. This operation is called locking the mouth, and is
often protracted through the whole day. While under this discipline»
the votary repairs to the temple which he has come to visit, and pays
homage to the god ; or walks about, with ostentation, amongst the ad-
miring throng. There are several temples frequented by this species
of votaries, in preference to the Pagoda of Nanjanagud before men-
tioned ; and numbers of devotees of both sexes are there seen, with
their jaws thus perforated through the teeth, and their mouths com-
pletely locked.

I once met a fanatic of this sort, in the streets, who had both lips
pierced through and through with two long nails, which crossed each
other, so that the point of the one reached to the right eye and that
of the other to the left. He had just undergone this cruet operation at
the gate of a temple consecrated to the goddess Mari-amma; and,
when I saw him, the blood was still trickling from the wounds. He
walked in that state for a long time in the streets, surrounded by a
crowd of admirers, many of whom brought him alms, in money or
goods, which were received by the persons who attended him.

There ate a great many other sorts of tortures and bodily pains thus
voluntarily inflicted by the Hindus, with the view of rendering their
gods propitious. Each devotee chuses the sort which is suggested by
an imagination heated with barbarous fanaticism ; and, still more fre-
quently, by the desire of acquiring a name, and becoming conspicuous
amongst the people.

Some make a vow to cut out their tongues, and acquit themselves of
their vow by coolly executing it with their own hands. The custom is,
when they have separated the half or any other portion of that organ, at
the door of the temple, to put it on a cocoa shell, and offer it, on their
knees, at the shrine of the deity.

This disposition of the Hindus to bind themselves by vows to painful
or costly works, in honour of their gods, is visible in all unpleasant cir-
cumstances that befal them ; but particularly in disease. There is hardly
a Hindu who, in that case, does not take a vow to perform something
or other when he recovers. The rich make vows to celebrate festivals

416 TEMPLES.

at certain temples. Those less opulent offer, at the Pagoda, a cow, a
buffalo, pieces of cloth, or trinkets of gold . and silver. Those who
are affected with any disorder of the eyes, mouth, ears, or any other
outward organ, vow to their idols a corresponding resemblance of it in
silver or gold.

Amongst the innumerable sorts of vows practised by either sex,
the following, which is very common in aU parts of the peninsula,
appears to me so curious as to deserve notice. It consists in the offer-
ing of their hair and their nails to the idol.

It is well known that the men in India have the custom of frequently
shaving the head, and allowing only a single tuft to grow on the crown.
Those who have taken the vow suffer their hair and nails to grow for a
long space of time ; and, when the day of fulfilment arrives, they go
to the Pagoda, have their head shaved and their nails pared, which
they offer up to the divinity whom they worship. This practice is
nearly peculiar to men, and is held to be one of the most acceptable of
all others to the gods.

Before concluding our remarks on the vows of the Hindus, it may
be proper to observe, that all such as relate to painful operations of the
nature above described, with many others that are attended with bodily
suffering, are always declined by the Brahmans, who leave the merit of
them to the Sudras ; and those of the latter class who practise them
are for the most part fanatical sectaries of Vishnu or Siva, particularly
of Vishnu, who aspire by that method to the public admiration, rather
than to do honour to the gods, by such barbarous and ridiculous
works.

Besides the practices already mentioned, which are carried on in
almost every temple of any note, there are many others, not less re-
volting, which are confined to some particular pagodas of great renown,
where the concourse of pilgrims and other devotees is not to be num-
bered.

The most celebrated of the Hindu temples, in the south of the pe-
ninsula, is that of Tirupati in the north of the Carnatic. It is dedi-
cated to the god Vencata Ramana. Crowds of pilgrims resort to it,
from all parts of India, chiefly from amongst the followers of Vishnu.

TEMPLES. 417

Those who are indifferent about casts also attend in great numbers ;
but the disciples of Siva never appear. , The infinite number of
enthusiasts, who are continually journeying to this holy station,
pour into it such abundance of offerings of all sorts, in goods, grain,
gold, silver, jewelis, precious stufis, horses, cows and other cattle,
and in all other articles of value ; that its revenue serves to maintain
several thousands of persons, who are employed in the various
functions of the idolatrous worship, which is there conducted with ex*
traordinary pomp.

Amongst the great number of ceremonies practised at this celebrated
place, that of the Ravishment of Women is too remarkable to be passed
over. It generally takes place at the time of the grand procession of
the image of the god drawn through the streets, in a triumphal car,
when curiosity to see the august spectacle attracts an inconceivable
throng.

While the procession is going forward the Briahmans who preside
over the ceremony disperse themselves among the crowd, selecting the
most beautiful women they can find, and begging them of their friends,
for the use of the god Venagata Ramana, for whose service the choice
is declared to be made. Some persons, more intelligent, or at least
less stupid than the rest, and who are so well acquainted with the
knavery of the Brahmans as to know that it is not for a god of marble
that their wives are solicited ; resist them, with violent reproaches, and
publicly expose their impostures. Their own wives they will not de-
liver up ; but they look on, while other more credulous husbands give
up theirs ; not only without repugnance, but glorying in the honour,
that a person of their family should have been chosen by their deity
for a wife.

When a woman, thus obtained, and kept in the temples, by the
Brahmans, in the name of the god, is declared too old for his purposes,
or when he has taken any dislike to her, they make a mark on her
breast, representing the arms of the Venagata Ramana, and give her a
patent, which certifies that she has served a certain number of years as
one of the wives of the god of Tripathi, who is now tired of her, and
therefore recommending her to the charity of (he public Thus

413 TGMPLES.

they are all dismissed io their turn ; and under the appellation of Eali-
yjugam Lakshmiy or the Lakshmi^ of the Kali-yugam, they go about
respected; and, wherever they appear, they are suffered to want for
nothing.

This constupration of women, on the pretence of devoting them to
the idols which are venerated by the Hindus, is not wholly confined
to the temple of Tripathi, but extends to other famous pagodas, such
as that of the Jagannath and some others.

The temple of Jagannath is scarcely less famous than that of Tri*
pathi. The religious ceremonies are conducted there with the greatest
magnificence. It is situated on the north of the coast of Orissa. Its prin-
cipal divinity is represented under a monstrous shape, without arms or
legs.

One thing peculiar to this pagoda is, that it appears to be the Temple
of Peace, and the centre of union among the Hindus. The distinction
of sects and casts is here unknown. Every individual whatever is ad-
mitted, and allowed to pay his homage, in person, to the divinity.
Accordingly, a great number of pilgrims frequent it from all quarters
of India. The disciples of Vishnu and those of Siva attend, with equal
sseal. The Vairagis, the Dasaru, the Jangama, and every variety of
religious fanatics, when they approach this temple, lay down their ani-
mosity ; and it is perhaps the only spot in India where they suspend
their hatred and contention. Whilst sojourning here, they seem to
compose but one community of brothers.

Several thousands of functionaries, chiefly Brahmans, are engaged in
the performance of the ceremonies of religious worship in this Temple

' «

* of Concord. The crowd of votaries never abates. Those of the south,
who undertake the holy pilgrimage to Kasi or Benares, never omit the
Temple of Jagannath in their way ; and those from the north, in their
holy journey to Cape Comorin, always visit it, as they pass, to ofier
their adorations to its presiding deity.

There are also many temples in the various provinces of the penin-
sula, as well as other sacred places, which are famed for some particular
advantage or other, or for some singularity in their worship.

*' Lakshmi was the wife of Vishnu.

TfiMPlss. 429

At Ctmibticonamy (Kumbhaconam) in Tanjore, there is a consecrated
pond, which possesses the virtue, at intervals of twelve years, to cleanse
all who bathe in it from spiritual and corporal impurities, though ac-
cumulated for many generations. When that moment of plenary
indulgence arrives, one beholds innumerable swarms of both sexes^
many of whom have come from the remotest provinces of the north
of the peninsula.

At Madura, there is a very famous temple, in a place called
Pahlany^ consecrated to the god Vellayadahy to whom the devotees
bring offerings of a singular kind. They consist of large leathern shoes^
of the shape of those which the Hindus wear on their feet, but much
bigger and more ornamented. This god being addicted to hunting,
these shoes are intended for his use when he traverses the deserts in
the chase.

It is unnecessary to carry much farther the detail of the ceremonies
and rites, general and particular, which are exercised in the temples of
India. What I have alreisidy stated, I hope, will ^ve insight into the
religious worship of the people. I will conclude, therefore, with a few
words concerning their Processions, and the Cars of triumph on whidi
they exhibit their gods, in procession, through the streets.

There are no temples from which Processions of great magnificence
and splendour do not take place, once in the year, or oflener. Ott
those occasions the idols are taken out of their sanctuaries, and raised
on high triumphal carriages constructed for the purpose. They are
upon four wheels of great strength ; not composed, like ours, with
spokes within a rim, but of three or four thick pieces of wood, rounded
and fitted into each other. The whole being compacted of solid timber^
supports an erection of sometimes not less than fifly feet in height.
The boards of which it is composed are carved with images of men and
women in the most abominable attitudes ; most of them representing
the grossest obscenities. Over this first elevation, composed of solid
timbers, they raise several stories of sl^hter materialfif; the whole
contracting and narrowing into a pyramidal form; resembling the
shape of the temples, as we have described them.

3h 2

420 TEMPLES.

On the days of procession the cars are adorned with precious stiiffi,
painted doth, garlfuids of flowers^, and green foliage. Under a niche
in the centre the idol is placed, in glittering attire, to attract the ad-
miration of the people. ^

Having &stened ropes to the enormous vehicle, they set thousands
of people to work, who draw it slowly along, accompanied with the
awful roaring of their voices. At certain periods they make a pause ;
at which the immense crowd, collected from all parts to witness the
ceremony, set up one universal shout, or rather yell, in proof of
their exultation and joy. This, joined to the piercing and dissonant
sounds of their instruments, and of the numerous drums which rattle
amongst the disorderly throng, produces a confusion and uproar sur^^
passing all imagination. Sometimes, as may be easily supposed, the
cumbrous car gets into embarrassment, and sometimes to a total stand»
in the crowded and narrow streets, by unforeseen accidents ; and then
the tumult and the clamorous roar redouble.

It may be easily imagined, that, in such a chaos of confusion, where
men and women are indiscriminately blended in the crowd, and their
conduct wholly unobserved, many irregularities must take place. And»
in fact, these consequences do arise from the processions; because
every individual may, without constraint, follow the immediate impulse
of desire. For this reason, it is generally the rendezvous of de-
bauchees, and also of young persons of both sexes, who, having
conceived a mutual attachment for each other in secret, and being
afraid, or unable, to gratify it in any other way, without exposure»
chuse the day of procession to accomplish their desires without
restraint.

Such is the outline of the religious ceremonies of the Hindus, and
such the spirit of idolatry which prevails among them. A religion
more shameful or indecent has never existed amongst a civilized
people. At the same time, I am far from believing that the present
worship of the Hindus corresponds with that of their first legislators ;
but, rather, that it is a corruption by the Brahmans, who invented, in
after-times, the monstrous worship which now prevails ; for the greater

TEMPLES, 421

number of the shocking fables, mentioned in this chapter and the
preceding one, appear to be modern inventions.

The Brahmans, being resolved to make the popular religion a mere
machine for advancing their temporal interests and gratifying their
passions, graduaUy urged on the Hindu people from one error to
another, from a deep to a deeper pit in that chaos in which we now see
them ingulfed.

The object they aimed at was greatly facilitated by the art which
they had previously acquired of diving into the natural propen-
sities of the people, so as to construct them a religion suited to their
character and genius. They saw that the Hindu could not be gra-
tified but by the extravagant; and, therefore, they compounded for
him a religion that exceeds all bounds, in the theory as well as in the
practice.

Seriously speaking, the turn and bent of the imagination of the
people of India are such, that they caQ in no wise be excited but
by what is monstrous. Ordinary occurrences make no impression
upon them at all. Their attention cannot be gained without thé
introduction of giants or of pygmies. The Brahmans, therefore,
having studied this propensity, availed themselves of it to invent a
religious worship, which they artfully interwove with their own private
interests.

This passion of the Hindus for the extraordinary and the wonderful,
must have been remarked by every one who has ever so little studied
their character. It continually leads to the observation I have so
frequently repeated, that as oflen as it was necessary to move their
gross imaginatioA, some circumstance, altpgether extravagant, but
coloured with the hue of truth, was required to be added to the sim-
plicity of narrative or fact.

To give them any idea of the marveUous, something must be in-
vented that will overturn, or at least alter the whole order of nature.
The miracles of the Christian religion, however extraordinary they
must appear to a common understanding, are by no means so to the
Hindus. Upon them they have no effect. The exploits of Joshua
and of his army, and the prodigies they effected by the interposition of

422 TEMPLES.

Gody in the conquest of the land of Canaan, seem to them unworthy
of notice, when compared with the achievement of their own Rama»
and the miracles which attended his progress when he subjected
Ceylon to his yoke. The mighty strength of Samson dwindles into
nothing, when opposed to thé overwhelming energy of Bali, of
Ravana and the giants. The resurrection of Lazarus itself is, in
their eyes, an ordinary event ; of which they see frequent examples in
the Vishnu ceremonies of the Pahvahdam.

I particularize these examples, because they have been actually
opposed to me more than once by Brahmans, in my disputations with
them on religion.

But it is certain that the irrational worship which now prevails
amongst Hindus of all classes, should be received by us as a striking
lesson of the utter incapacity of the human mind to invent a reasonable
system of religion, and of the extravagant aberrations to which man
is exposed when he has not God Himself for his guide.

The Divine Author of Revelation, in enabling us to perceive the
absurdity of the notions which the most anciently civilized people at
present in existence entertain respecting the Divinity ; and to examine
the brutish worship practised by whole nations to whom, for reasons
concealed from us, and which we must not attempt to unveil, He has
not vouchsafed to manifest Himself; has admonished us of the exceed-*
ingly great obligations we are under to Him, in our being born in a re-
ligion sent down from heaven. No other can give us pure conceptions
of its founder, and of his infinite perfections. And had not God
Himself condescended to impart to us the knowledge of his attributes,
and of the worship that is pleasing to Him, never could our limited
understanding, warped as it is by passion and prejudice, have arisen
to just notions on the subject ; and we must have been still groping in
the thick darkness of idolatry, in which our ancestors were plunged,
and in which so many other nations still live, who have not yet been
blessed with the guidance of their Maker.

The modern Deists of Europe, I know, will not agree with these sen-
timents. They presumptuously maintain that human reason, when
purged fcoxa the prejudices of education, is of itself sufficient to form

TEMPLES.

423

just notions of the Divinity ; and, arrogantly, attribute those which they
themselves entertain to the vigour of their own genius ; while it is easy
to see that they are only the fruit of the Christian education which they
have received, and for which they are indebted solely to the high privi-
lege of having been* bom in a country where the revealed religion alone
is professed.

But where are the philosophers, in ancient or modem times, who
have arrived, without the assistance of revelation, at just ideas of the
Deity, and a worship worthy of Him, and wholly divested of the super?-
stitions of Paganism ? Socrates, the wisest and most renowned of all,
although he has spoken of the Supreme Being in a manner worthy of
Him, was not able completely to shake off the fetters of superstition.
For after he had taken the hemlock, surrounded by friends, who were
cheering him with the prospects of a better life, he felt inward remorse,
and whispered to his disciple Crito that he had vowed the sacrifice of a
cock to Esculapius ; which he entreated his friend, most earnestly, to
offer in his name.

In like manner, the ancient philosophers of India, although they
had attained to sublime notions concerning the Deity^ as we have, al-
ready shewn, &iled to apply them to their proper use ; sometimes di-
recting them to the Supreme Existence, and sometimes to inferior gods,
represented under a human shape. This error still prevails amongst
the wisest of the Brahmans ; and that is evidently the most pernicious
error of superstition, serving to confound inferior natures with the
Almighty, by yielding the same honours to all.

The Revealed Religion alone has communicated pure ideas on this
subject, which only are worthy of their Author j and the history of all
mankind shews us that God has never been traly known or worshipped
but by nations who have had Him for their only Lord.

But, absurd as the worship of the Hindus is, their attachment to
the species of idolatry which they have embraced is so powerful, that
none of the great revolutions that have taken place in their country, in
modern times, have inspired them with the slightest idea of renouncing
the foolish rites of Paganism, and assuming the more rational religion
of their conquerors. The Christians and Muhammadans have, equallyf

^j^ tfiMPLES.

laboured to introduce their respective religions amongst them ; and the
latter, no doubt, have made many proselytes, but only in the way
which they have pursued every where else, of violence and compulsion*
But, after all, their doctrines have never taken root, nor become predo-
minant, in any of the provinces of India. Yet, in many of them,
persecutions of every sort have been exercised against the Pagan inha-
bitants Î and the Moslem Princes have also tried every other method
of persuasion, by putting wealth and honours within the reach of
those who should renounce the worship of idols for the faith of their
Prophet.

The religion of Christ, which offers itself only in the way of gentle-
ness and persuasion, that holy and benevolent faith, which would seem
so well adapted to sweeten and cheer the life of a people subdued to
misery and oppression; that religion from God, whose penetrating
truths have softened the rugged hearts of so many barbarous nations,
has been announced to the Hindus for more than three hundred years ;
but with no remarkable success. It even sensibly loses the little
ground it had gained against a thousand obstacles, through the zeal and
persevering efforts of the ministers who first preached it there. The
prejudice against it unhappily increases every day. The conduct of
those who, though born in countries where Christianity alone is pro-
fessed, are now spread over all India, is often so unworthy of their
faith, as to increase the prejudices and dislike which the natives enter-
tain for every foreign religion, and for that above all others.

It is unnecessary to remind the reader that the manners of a people
who have adopted religious customs so indecorous aa the Hindus have
done, must necessarily be very dissolute. Accordingly, licentiousness
prevails almost universally, without shame or remorse. Every excess
of debauchery or libertinism is countenanced by the irregular lives
of their gods, and by the rites which their worship prescribes. This
connexion illustrates the truth of the remark of Montesquieu, that,
" in a country which has the misfortune to possess a religion that does
" not proceed from God, it necessarily falls in with the morals which
" prevail, because even a false religion is the best guarantee that men
<' can have for the honesty of men.'*

TEMPLBS. 425

On the other hand, however gross and evidently absurd the worship
and doctrines of the Hindus are, their religion appears to me, under
its worst aspect, to be preferable to Atheism. I would much rather
be an adorer of the Trimurti than an associate of the class that denies
a Gk)d ; and I would far rather believe in the doctrine of the Maru
Jelma, the metempsychosis of the Hindus, than in that which teaches
that death is an eternal sleep, or, in other words, that the crimes of the
wicked are buried with them for ever in the grave.

Several points of the Hindu faith, such as the Metempsychosis, the
Naraka,and their places of bliss, might be very beneficial to society, if they
were properly inculcated on the minds of the people. And, undoubt-
edly, the dread of an evil regeneration after the present life, or of the
pains of Naraka, must be a powerful curb to restrain the wicked within
the bounds of duty ; whilst the desire and expectation of a happy new
birth, or that of a blessed abode afler death, must tend to the encou-
ragement of purity and virtue. But the evil is, that these fundamental
articles of the Hindu faith have been utterly perverted by the Brahmans,
who have sought only to turn them to their own advantage, by threaten-
ing with an evil regeneration, or with the torments of Naraka, not
those whose lives have been stained with every crime, but those who
have injured them in their worldly concerns, or who have let slip the
occasions of doing them a service ; whilst they have no difficulty in
promising the happiest of renovations, or endless felicity after death,
not to such as have led a truly virtuous life, but to such as practise
imaginary virtues, or who promote their interests by benefactions and
alms.

I remember to have read a Hindu book which treats of the doc-
trine of the Maru Jelma or transmigration into a good or evil futurity,
where the author, apparently of the high cast, declares, amongst other
things, that he who breaks his word with a Brahman, or who occasions
him any detriment, directly or indirectly, in his temporal concerns, will
be condemned, for such an offence, to become, in his second birth, a
devil. He will not be permitted to dwell on the earth nor to live in
the air, but will be obliged to take up his abode, in the midst of a
thick forest, amongst the branches of a bushy tree ; where 'he shall

4gg TEMPLES.

never oease to groan by night and by day» cursing his unhappy lot^ and
deprived of all'aliment but stinking toddy, mixed with the slaver of i^
dog» which he shall drink out of the skull of a death's-head.

It is in this way that offences, imaginary, or of small account, are
menaced with endless punishment, after death, by the directors of the
popular faith ; whilst adulterers, peijiu'ers, robbers, and other real of-
fenders, are absolved by the Brahmans of their actual crimes for selfish
objects ; and assured of a recompence, after death, which should
pertain exclusively to virtue*

But in spite of all the trappings and the many corruptions which the
Brahmans have added to the religious worship, and the belief of the
Hindus, I do not. hesitate to repeats that it appears to me to be
infinitely preferable to Atheism ; and I venture to affirm that every
good political reasoner, every man who comprehends the feelings and
movements of the human heart, will be of the same opinion. But
any thing I could add on this subject will be much better supplied by
a passage which I shall quote from one of the greatest men of the last
age, already referred to, and indçed one of the finest in the ^^ Spirit of
Laws," entitled ^^ Bayle's Paradox/' *

" Mr. Bayle has endeavoured to prove that it is better to be an
^^ atheist than an idolater ; or, in other words, that it is less dangerous
" to have no religion whatever than a false one. * I would rathei^'
^^ he says, ^ have it said of me that I do not at all exist, than that I am
^< a wicked man.' This is a mere sophism, founded on this ; that it is
" of no utility to the human race to have it believed that a certain
" man exists, in place of saying it is very useful to have it believed
• ^* that there is a God. From the idea that there is none, that of our
^ independency flows ; or, if we cannot entertain that idea, that of our
" revolt. To say that religion is not a restraining motive, because it
^^ does not always restrain, is the same as to say that neither have
" civil laws a restraining influence. It is. not reasoning fair with
" religion to collect, in a large volume, a catalogue of the ills it has
^^ occasioned, if we do not also enumerate its benefits. If I were to
<< recount all the evils the world has sustained from civil laws,

* De TEsprit des Lois, xxiv. 2.

» ■

TBMFLES. 427

<^ monarchy, and republican government, I should speak terrible
<« things. If it were useless for subjects to have a religion, it would
" be no less so for rulers to have any, who might then whiten with
<^ foam the only curb which those who fear not human laws can feeL

<< A Prince who loves religion and who fears it, is a lion that stoops
^^ to the hand that strokes him or the soothing voice. He who
<^ fears religion and who hates it, is like the wild beasts which gnaw
" the chains that hinder them from flying on the passers-by. He who
^^ has no religion, is that terrible animal which feels not its liberty but
" when it tears in pieces and devours.

" The question is not to determine whether it would be better that
<^ a certain individual should be without religion altogether, than that
^^ he should abuse that which he has ; but to decide which is the
<< smaller evil, the occasional abuse of religion, or that it should not
" exist at all amongst men.

" In order to diminish the abhorrence of atheism, idolatry is over-
^^ loaded. It is not true that when the ancients erected altars to any
" vice, they shewed that they loved that vice ; but on the contrary
" that they hated it. When the Lacedemonians built an edifice to
" Fear, it was no proof that the heroic nation wished it to cling to the
" hearts of the Lacedemonians. There were some deities who were
^^ besought, not to inspire crimes, and others who were entreated to
" avert them.*'

Thus has the paradox of Bayle been demolished by an author who
will not be suspected of an unreasonable partiality to religion. '

" Such," says Voltaire *, " is the weakness of human nature, and such
" its perverseness, that it is better that it should be under the
" dominion of all possible superstitions, than to be wholly without
^« religion. Men have always stood in need of the rein ; and though
^ it was ridiculous to sacrifice to Fauns, Satyrs, and Naiads, it was
^< more rational and more useful to adore those fantastic emblems of
" the Divinity than to deliver themselves up to atheism. An atheist,
" turned reasoner, if impetuous and powerfiil, would be as woful a

* Traite de la Tolerance, chap. 20.

3i 2

428 TEMPLES.

>^ scourge as a sanguinary fanatic. When men have not true notions
" of the Divinity, false ones supply their place, as in times of distress
*' men traffic with bad coin when there is none good to be found.
" The Pagan was afraid to commit a crime lest he should be punished
^^ by his false gods. The Malabarian dreads that he may be punished
" by his pagoda. Wherever society is established, religion is necessary.
^^ The laws watch over public crimes, and religion over those that are
" secret."

( 429 )

CHAR IV.

OF THE PRINCIPAL DIVINITIES OF INDIA.

XT would be a work of volumes to enter into a detail of the fables
that relate to the different deities which the commonalty adores ; for
there is scarcely an object in nature, living or inanimate, to which the
Hindus do not offer worship. But they acknowledge three principal
gods whom they specially venerate, under the names of Brahma^
Vishnu^ and Siva. When worshipped, in union, they form, as we
have already seen, the Trimurti ; and they are also separately adored
with peculiar rites. These three have given birth to an infinite number
besides ; and the Hindus, in all things extravagant, have shewn this
disposition no where more conspicuously than in the number of the
divinities they have formed. They have gone far beyond all other
idolatrous nations in this particular ; as they reckon no less than thirty-
three koti of gods, each koti being equal to ten millions, so that the
whole number amounts to three hundred and thirty millions.

I shall confine myself to a short description of the principal ones
that are universally acknowledged through the whole country. The
full detail would be quite insupportable. We have already spoken of
the Trimurti, or three principal gods united in one person, and we
shall now proceed to a short view of the leading attributes of each.

Brahma.

Brahma occupies the highest place among the Hindu divinities. He

is fabled to have been born with five heads ; but he is represented

with four only^ because he lost one in a violent contest with Siva,

430 THE PRINCIPAL DIVINITIES.

whose wife Parvati he had ravished ; and the indignant husband
could not be appeased till he had cut off one of the heads of the
adulterer.

His wife, it is said, was his own «daughter, Sardswatiywhom he keeps
always in his mouth. Having conceived for her an incestuous passion,
he durst not gratify it in the human shape which he bore ; and there-
fore he converted himself into a stag, and changed his daughter into a
bitch. Under this form, he gratified his unnatural desires ; and it is
because he violated the most sacred laws of nature, as many believe,
that he is without worship, without temples or sacrifices ; that no one^
in short, performs any exterior ceremony of religion in honour of
Brahma.

Others affirm that the sort of neglect into which this god has fallen,
so as to be unworshipped, proceeds fi*om a curse launched against
him by a certain penitent called Brumuny, to whom Brahma was defi«
dent in respect when the holy man entered the regions of bliss.

Three important energies, in the nature of attributes,- are ascribed to
this deity. The first is that of being author and creator of all things.
Tlie second makes him the giver of all gifls and of all blessings ; and
the third assigns to him the control over the destinies of all men. Every
individual bears his mark, impressed on the forehead, by the finger of
the deity himself. He also possesses the power of granting the gifi; of
immortality to whomsoever he pleases; and it is to him that many
&bulous personages are indebted for it ; such as the Giants Rax>ana^
Haranya, and several others.

Beifig the author of all things, he is consequently the creator of men.
The four great casts, of which the world consists, namely, the Brahmans,
the Rajas, the merchants, and the agriculturists, were formed and in-
stituted by him. The first and noblest sprung from his head, the se-
cond from his shoulders, the third from his belly, and the last from his
feet.

This is the story of the creation of man most generally adopted, al-
though some give it a different turn. They say that Brahma, in his
first essay to create a human being, made him with only one foot ;
which not answering, he destroyed the work, and formed the next with

THE PRINCIPAL DIVINITIBS. 43I

three ; but the third foot being more an incumbrance than a help^ he
destroyed this model also, and finally resolved upon the two legs.

Vishnu.

Next after Brahma, comes Vishnu^ also called Perumahl. His wor-
ship extends far and wide ; and of all the gods he seems to have the
greatest number of followers. They are divided into several classes or
sects, known by the general appellation of Malam. Each Malam has
its secrets, its sacrifices, its mantras, and particular signs. The most
numerous of all is that whose members bear the mark of the Nama, or
three perpendicular lines, imprinted on their foreheads, as a particular
symbol of their extreme devotion for that divinity.

The particular titles and attributes of Vishnu are those of Redeemer
and Preserver of all things. The other gods, without excepting Brahma
himself, have often stood in need of his assistance ; and, but for his
powerful help, must, on many arduous occasions, have fallen into per*
dition.

His title of Preserver of all things^ has made it necessary for him, on
various occasions, to assume different fortes, which the Hindus call
AvataraSf a word which may be rendered into Metamorphoses. Ten of
these are enumerated, namely :

Matya^avatara^ or transformation into a Fish.

Kurma^avataraj that into a Tortoise.

Varaha-avatara^ or Boar.

Narasingha-avataroy change into half man and half lion. '

Vamana-avatara^ that into a dwarf Brahman.

Paraswarama^avataray the change into the god of that name.

Rama^avataraj or Vishnu representing that hero.

Krishna-avatara^ change into that god's form.

Bhadra-avatara, or metamorphosis into the tree Ravi or Artili ; and

Kalki^avataraj or change into a Horse.

A few words will suffice on each Avatara, the detailed account of which
would occupy the largest volumes.

43^ THE PMNCIPAL DIVINITIBS.

The first Avatara» or metamorphosis into a Ftsh^ takes its rise from
the following accident, reported, at great length in the Bhagavata»
Brahma, one day being overpowered with fatigue, fell asleep. The four
books called Vedas, which had been assigned to his particular care^
seeing their guardian completely sunk in sonmolency, took advantage
of it, and made their escape. All unprotected, they were met on the
road, in their flight, by a Giant called Hayagriva^ who laid hold
of them ; and, in order to secure so precious a treasure, swallowed
them, and put them next his heart. But, to avoid all .danger of de-
tection, he concealed himself in the midst of the waters of the great
ocean. Vishnu, when he heard of the loss that Brahma had sustained,
and that the Giant was the ' robber, departed from his abode and fol-
lowed his enemy into the waters, under the form of a fish. Afler a
long search, he found him at last in the deepest abyss of the sea, and
there, attacking him with fury, he overcame* him, and, penetrating
into his bowels, there found the Vedas, and restored them to Brahma
their keeper.

The second Avatara was into a Tortoise^ and was brought about in
this manner. Whilst the Gods and .the Giants were at open war, the
Giants, with the mighty Bali at their head, were victorious over the
Celestials, whom they treated with the greatest severity. In this dis-
astrous state the gods were satisfied to obtain peace on any terms that
their enemies might propose. Having thus concluded a treaty, they
lived in apparent amity ; but the Gods were, all the while secretly in-
voking Vishnu to protect them from the power of their dangerous ene-
mies. He granted their prayers, and at the same time ordered them to
pull up the mountain Mandara Parvata, and cast it into the sea. In exe-
cuting this task, some of them were so much fatigued as to be incapa-
ble of proceeding, which Vishnu perceiving, flew to their aid, on the
wings of the bird Garuda, his ordinary vehicle, and fixed the mountain
in the sea of curdled milk. Afterwards, the gods being desirous to
navigate the sea, made a ship of Mount Mandara ; and, having taken a
serpent for a rope ; they fastened one end of it to the head of one of
the stoutest of their number, and the other end to the right arm of a
second. While they were thus towipg Mount Mandara as a ship, thç

THE PRINCIPAL DIVINITIBS. 433

gods, who were in it began to perceive that it was sinking ; upon which
they put up their fervent supplications to Vishnu, the preserver, to res-
cue them from the imminent danger to which they were exposed.
Vishnu flew again to their relief, and seeing them all about to perish,
he metamorphosed himself into a tortoise ; plunged into the sea, and
supported the sinking mountain on his solid back.

The third Avatara was his transformation into a Hog. Vishnu, being
in pursuit of the Giant Hiranyakshana^ a monster of whom he wished
to rid the world, discovered that he was concealed in Patala, which
is the lowest of the seven inferior worlds; and, being determined,
at all hazards, to reach him, he convei^ed himself into a large Hog, and
dug a passage through the earth with his snout, continuing his pursuit
till he caught and slew this enemy of the human race.

The fourth Avatara is called Narasingha. The three preceding were
changes into the forms of animals. This was a mixture of Man and
Lion. It took its rise from the following adventure. The younger
brother of the Giant Hiranyakshana, hearing that his brother had been
slain by Vishnu, resolved to be avenged ; and, with that design, he at-
tacked the god in his abode of felicity, the Vaikuntha. Vishnu, appre-
hensive of a contest with so powerful an enemy, avoided him, and hid
himself The Giant being unable to find him, sought to avenge him-
sejf on the other gods who lived in the same residence with his enemy,
and treated them with cruelty. The son of the Giant, who was one of
those gods, interceded for them with his father, and endeavoured to
appease his wrath. But, so far from listening to these entreaties, on
finding that his son was a supporter of Vishnu, he determined to put
him to death. That god, seeing the danger that his votary was in,
burst from beneath a cauldron, in the double shape of man and
lion. He had still a long and bitter contest to sustain with the Giant ;
but, at last, having proved victorious, he seized his enemy, laid him
across his thigh, tore his belly open with his lion's claws, sucked his
blood, and extracted his bowels, which he afterwards twisted round
his neck as a trophy of his victory.

The fifth Avatara, was the change into a Brahman Dwarf. The Giant}
Bali, always terrible in his wars with the gods, had already subdued

3 k

434 THE PRINCIPAL DIVINITIES.

three worlds, and reduœd the gods he found there into the hsxded
subjection. Vishnu, being desirous of delivering so many gods and
mortals from their savage enemy, metamorphosed himself into a
dwarfish Brahman, and visited Bali under that disguise, soliciting
a bit of ground no bigger than three prints of his little feet, which he
required to offer sacrifices upon. The request appeared ludicrous to
the Giant, and he granted it without scruple. Vishnu immediately
resumed his godlike form, and with one footstep covered the whole
earth. With another, elevated in air, he overshadowed the whole
space between the earth and firmament, and nothing being left to
receive the third impression of his foot, he trod upon the Giant's
head, and hurled him down to the infernal Patala.

The Sixth Avatara, was the transformation into the person otPoa^asu^
Ramuj by which Vishnu became the son ' of Jamadagni and Renuki.
The Giant Kirtaviryanarjana^ having conquered and reduced under his
dominion the father and mother of Farasu-Rama ; he, or Vishnu in his
cAiape, resolved to revenge the insult offered to the family. He attacked
the Giant, slew him, and brought the Carcase to his father Janiada^i.
The sons of the Giant, desirous of vengeance, in their turn, went in
search of Jamadagni ; found him, and cut off* his head. Parasu-Rama,
incensed at the cruelty ; and being resolved to inflict adequate punish-
ment on the murderer of his father, attacked not only those who com-
mitted the crime, but many other Kings who had leagued with them.
Twenty-one assaults were sustained; but, in the last he gained the
possession of their persons, and put them all to death.

The Seventh Avatara is the metamorphosis of Vishnu into the hero
called Rama. It is described, in a very prolix and tedious way, in the
Ramayana, a book well known and read by all Hindus. It has raked
together, in the history of Rama, a coUection of all the fables arid
paganism of the country. It commences with the moment of the con-
ception of its hero. The principal adventures in his life, which would
require a folio volume to describe, were, in the first place, his journey
into the desert for the purpose of soliciting Swamitra to give him his only
daughter Sita in marriage ; next, his pilgrimage to the city of Ayodhya,
and the war which it led him into with Parasu-Rama, the same person

THE PRINCIPAL DIVINITIES. 435

with himself, in reality, being only different forms of Vishnu, which for
a long time unfortunately they did not discover ; then the abduction of
Sita by the Giant Havana ; the grief and despair of Rama on this
event ; the consolation and advice given him under such circumstances
by his brother Lakshman, and the mode he points out for the recovery
of his wife Sita ; an army of Apes, commanded by the great Ape
Hanuman^ who met him while searching for Sita, and informed him
where she dwelt, with her ravisher Ravana, and the manner of life
which she led ; how Rama, at the news, inrolled the army of Apes in
his service, to help him to fight Ravana ; and, being ignorant of war,
received instruction from the Apes, who taught him to build bridges,
to draw up an army in array, and to surprize the enemy ; how he con-
quered the Isle Lanka, or Ceylon, where his enemies had rendezvoused,
and whijc^h he assaulted with his Ape auxiliaries, by means of a bridge
from the main land ; and how, lastly, after a long and cruel war, in
which the hero gained victories, and suffered defeats, he was joined by
Vishnu, the brother and enemy of the Giant Ravana, who taught Rama
the certain means of subduing his enemy ; how his advice is pursued ;
and how Rama, having gained a decisive victory over Ravana and the
united Giants, at length regains his beloved Sita.

The Eighth Avatara, in which he is transformed into the person of
Balor-Ramaj exhibits Vishnu so disguised for the purpose of making
war against an Army of Giants, who were desolating the earth. He
took for his weapon a Serpent of enormous size, and, by its means,
soon succeeded in destroying all the Giants against whom he had taken

arms.

The Ninth Avatara is the transformation into the tree Ravi or Arvli.
Vishnu having entertained impure desires towards the daughter of a
Giant, a beauty renowned for her virtues, employed all manner of arti-
fices to gain her. This modest female having resolutely rejected his
illicit solicitations, he at last made a desperate effort for the gratification
of his wicked design ; and finding it impracticable, under an animal
form, he assumed that of the tree Ravi ; in which semblance he suc-
ceeded in satisfying his passion. This metamorphosis is, no doubt, the
cause why this tree is so famous and so much venerated by the Hindus.

3k 2

436 THE PRINCIPAL DIVINITIES.

The Tenth Avatara is the transformation into a Horse. - This last
Avatara has not yet taken effect ; but the Hindus trust that it will be
realized. They expect it with the same ardour as the Jews look for-
ward to their Messiah. This Tenth Avatara is to be the most beneficial
and the most wonderful of all. The books which announce it do not
assign the period when it will arrive, nor how it will be brought to
pass, but the Hindus* confide that it will restore the Satya-ytiga or
Age of Happiness.

Krishna.

Besides the Ten Avataras of Vishnu, the Hindus recognize another^
which is that of his change into the person of Krishna. This meta-
morphosis, and all the fables that accompany it, are contained in the
book cdMeàBhagavata^ which is scarcely less famous than the Ramayana.

Krishna, at his birth, was obliged to be concealed, in order to avoid the
attack of a Giant who sought his life. He escaped his enemy under the
disguise of a beggar. He was reared by persons of that cast, and soon
exhibited marks of the most unbridled libertinism. Plunder and rape
were familiar to him from his tender years. It was his chief pleasure
to go every morning to the place where the women bathe, and, in con-
cealment, to take advantage of their unguarded exposure. Then he
rushed amongst them, took possession of their clothes, and gave a loose
to the indecencies of language and of gesture. He maintained sixteen
wives, who had the title of queens, and sixteen thousand concubines.
All these women bore children almost without number ; but Krishna,
fearing they would league against him and deprive him of his power,
murdered them all. He had long and cruel wars with the Giants, with
various success. At last his infamous conduct drew upon him the
curse of a virtuous woman called Ganghary ; the effects of which were
soon apparent, in a wound, of which he died.

In obscenity, there is nothingthat can be compared with theBhagavata.
It is nevertheless the delight of the Hindus, and the first book they put
into the hands of their children, when learning to read ; as if they
deliberately intended to lay the basis of a dissolute education.

THE PRINCIPAL DIVINITIES. 437

Siva.

This God has likewise the names o£ Iswara^ Rudra^ Sadasiva^ and
Parameswara. He is generally represented under a terrible shape, to
shew, by a menacing exterior, the power which he possesses of destroy-
ing all things. To aggravate the horrors of his appearance, he is repre-
sented with his body all covered with ashes. His long hair is plaited
and curled in the most whimsical way. His eyes, unnaturally largO)
give him the appearance of being in a perpetual rage. Instead of jewels,
they adorn his ears with great serpents. He holds in his hand a weapon
called Stda. I have sometimes seen idols of Siva, of gigantic propor-
tions, admirably contrived to inspire terror.

The principal attribute of this God, as we have mentioned, is the
power of Universal Destruction ; although some authors also give hiin
that of Creation, in common with Brahma.

His fabulous history, like that of all the other Hindu Gods, is nothing
but a tissue of absurd and extravagant adventures, invented, as it would
seem, for the mere purpose of exhibiting the extremes of the two most
powerful passions which tyrannize over man. Luxury and Ambition.
They relate to the wars which he maintained against the Giants ; to his
enmity and jealousy in opposition to the other Gods; and, above all, to
his infamous amours.

It is related that, in one of his wars, being desirous of completing the
destruction of the Giants, and of obtaining possession of Tripura,
the country which they inhabited, he cleft the world in twain, and took
one half of it for his armour. He made Brahma the general of his
army. The four Vedas were his horses. Vishnu was his arrow. The
mountain Mandara Farvata was used fiDr his bow, and a mighty ser-
pent supplied the place of the string. Thus accoutred, the terrible Siva
led his army to the abode of the tjrrants of the earth, took 'the three
fortresses they had constructed, and demolished them in a moment
This, and other stories of Siva, are given at great length in the Bhagavata.

Siva had great difficulty in obtaining a wife ; but having made a long
and austere penitence at the Mountain Farvata, that lofty eminence was

^^ THE PRINCIPAL DIVINITIBS.

SO affected by it as to consent at last to give him his daughter in
riage.

The Lingam. '

The abomination of the Lingam takes its origin from Siva,
idol which is spread all over India» is generally inclosed in a little box
of silver, which all the votaries of that god wear suspended at their
necks. It represents the sexual organs of man, sometimes alone, and
sometimes accompanied. The long account given of the origin of this
mystery in the Linga-Purana may be thus abbreviated.

Siva having one day, in presence of the seven famous penitents, ex-
hibited himself in a state of nature, began to play several indecent va-
garies before them. He persisted till the penitents, being no longer
able to tolerate his indecency, imprecated their curse upon it. . The
denunciation took immediate effect, and from that moment Siva was
emasculated. Parvati, having heard of the misfortune of her husband,
came to comfort him ; — but I have not the courage to return to the
pages which contain the topics of consolation which she used, or the
methods she employed to repair his loss.

In the meantime, the penitents having more coolly considered the dis-
proportion of the punishment to the offence, and wishing to make all
the reparation in their power to the unhappy Siva, decreed that all
his worshippers should thenceforth address their prayers, adoration and
sacrifices to what the imprecation had deprived him of

Such is the infamous origin of the Lingam, which is not only openly
represented in the temples, on the highways, and in other public situa-
tions, but is worn by the votaries of Siva as the most precious relic,
hung at their necks, or fastened to their arms and hair, and receiving
firom them sacrifices and adoration.

• The Lingam is the ordinary symbol of all the followers of Siva. That
sect spreads over the whole of India, but particularly in the west of the
peninsula, where the Lingamites compose, in many districts, the chief
part of the population. The particular customs of the sect have been
before noticed; the most remarkable of which are their abstinence

THE FRINCIFAL DIVINITIES. 439

from whatever has had the principle of life, and the practice of inter-
ring their dead in place of burning them, as most other Hindus do.

We know to what excess the spirit of idolatry may lead the ignorant ;
but it is incredible, it even seems impossible, that theLingam could have
originated iij the direct and literal worship of what it represents ; but
rather that it was an allegorical allusion of a striking kind, to typify
the procreative and regenerating powers of nature, by which all kinds
of being are reproduced and maintained in the wide universe. It was, no
doubt, to this fecundating and reproductive energy of nature, that the
early idolators of India paid their adoration ; while their successors^
from the propensity to embody every thing abstract into sensible
images, transferred it to the gross emblem ; and, forgetting by little and
little the ideas of their ancestors, came at length to adore the aboniina<-
tion itself, and to rank it amongst their principal divinities. From the
same principle, as far as we can perceive, arose the worship of the
Phallus among the Greeks, that of Priapus among the Romans, and
probably that of Baal-peor mentioned in Scripture : objects of wor-
ship amongst other ancient idolatrous nations, which differed but little
from that of the Lingam, and were equally abominable.

Vighneswara.

The god Vighneswara is likewise known by the names of Puliyar^
Ganesa^ and Vinayiaka. He is one of the most universally adored deities.
His image is every where to be seen ; in the temples, in the choultries,
in places of public resort, in the streets, in forts, by the side of
streams and tanks, on the highways, and generally in all frequented
places. He is taken into the houses ; and in all public ceremonies, he
is worshipped the first of alL We have already spoken of him as the
God of Obstacles, and mentioned that the honours he received pro-
ceed from the apprehension that he would otherwise cast difficulties and
impediments before them, in the ordin^try occurrences of life.

He derived his birth from the excrement of Parvati. His mother
made him her guard and door-keeper. In this situation, the god
Kumara, who had long entertained a grudge against him» finding him

440 T'ïE PRINCIPAL DIVINITIES.

alone one day, cut off his head. Siva was much grieved when he
heard of the misfortune ; and, being desirous to repair it, he made a
vow that he would cut off the head of the first living creature he
should find lying down with its crown towards the north, and unite it to
the trunk of Vighneswara. In setting out on this design, .the first ani-
mal he met with, lying in that position, was an elephant ; the head of
which he cut off, and set it on the neck of Vighneswara, and thus re-
stored him to life. Parvati was terrified when she first saw her son in
this condition ; but, by degrees, she became reconciled to the frightful
change, and gaily asked him one day what sort of a wife he would wish
to marry. The son, who had for a long time looked with an incestu-
ous eye on his mother, replied that he would like one altogether the
sam^ as she was. Alarmed at his answer, she exclaimed, in her wrath :
^< a wife like me ! go then and seek for her, and never m ay est thou
*^ marry until thou findest exactly such an one." From that time»
though Vighneswara has diligently visited all places frequented by wo-
men, he has never found >;one to suit the condition in the curse ; or
rather, no woman will unite with so unseemly a husband**

Indra or Devendra.

This God, as we have before stated, is King of the Inferior Deities,
who sojourn with him in his paradise called Swarga, or seat of Sen-
sual Pleasures ; for in this voluptuous abode, no other are known. All
who are admitted into it have a supply of women equal to the most
inordinate concupiscence ; and their vigour is so increased as to render
them capable of perpetual fruition.

It will be naturally supposed that the history of a god, who rules
over a society like this, must be disgusting, and filled with nauseous ob-
scenity; and it certainly would be a cruel task to be obliged to submit
to the perusal of what the Hindu books contain on the subject of De-
vendra, and of the detestable gratifications in which the votaries who
are admitted into his paradise indulge. But that I may not omit an
opportunity of exposing the genius of the Hindu mythology, and that
of the abominably books from which the natives imbibe their earliest

THB PRINCIPAL DIVINTHES. ^4|

principles, I am compelled once mora to incur the risk of ofiending
modesty, by tracing an outline of a single adventure of this god of the
heathens.

Having conceived a violent passion for the wife of the penitent
Gautama, and after meditating long upon the means of gratifying it, he
bethought himself of assuming the appearance of a dunghill cock. In
the shape of this domestic fowl, he took his station close by the house
of Gautama ; and in the middle of the night he began to crow, and
counterfeited so well that the penitent, who happened to be awake, sup-
posing that the dawn was approaching, got out of bed, and went to
make his usual ablutions in the river. As soon - as Gautama had gone
forth, Devendra entered the house, and occupied his place by the side
of his wife JhUya. The husband, when hé returned, understood what
had taken place in his absence, and in a transport of rage poured out \m
curses upon both, imprecating that his wife might be transformed into
stone, and that her gallant should be withered up, and deprived of the
marks of virility.

The malediction was instantly effectual against both. But the gods
and the goddesses of Swarga, having heard of the mishap of thetir
King, and indeed having ocular testimon3» of his misfortune, occasioned
by the curse of Gautama, after much consultation, found out the means
of restoring him to his pristine vigour and integrity, by borrowing from
a he-goat which they caught.

This is but a brief, and I trust, rather a delicate abridgement of
the adventure ; which is given at ftdl length, in the purana called
Indra-purana.

K makes me Uush even to allude to such obscenities ; and the
shame they occasion restrains me from entering into an enlarged
detail of the fables relating to the divinities of India; which are
replete with allusions equally abhorrent to modesty and reason.

The god .Devendra rides an elephant, and has a cutting instrument
called the Vcyra for his weapon of offence. The colour of his gaie-
ment is red.

Those who seek to establish a connection or resemblance between
the false gods of the dijQferent idolatrous nations of antiquity, will

4^^ TBE PRINCIPAL DIVINITIBST.

fitid several points of approximation, in comparing the divinities c^
India with those of Greece and Rome. The short account we have
given of the history of some of the principal ones would serve to establish
this congruity. At the same time I do not consider it sufficiat^k to
justify, in its full extent, the conclusions drawn from those marks <^
similitude, by some modem writers, who are desirous of tracing the
Indian and Grecian godsr from a common origin.

; The metamorphoses of Jupiter ; at one time into a satyr, in the rape
of Antiope; at another 4nto a bull, when he carried Europa away)
their into a swan, for the purpose of abusing Leda^ or into à shower
of gold for the corruption of Danaë ; and many other changes,* for
. facilitating his amours, have a great resemblance to the adventured of
Brahma and of Vishnu. Nor does the Lingam of the Hindus, as we
have shewn, differ widely from the Phallus of the Greeks and thé
Priapus of the Latins.

But there is another paiticuhir in which the gods of these different
nations seem to bear a more striking analogy to each other than. in
any other yet mentioned ; and that is the arms or weapons which they
respectively bore. The gods of Greece were always represented
armed ; as the Hindu gods are also.

The Greeks armed Saturn with a scythe, Jupiter with the thunder^
Neptune with the trident, and Pluto with his two pronged fork.
They assigned a club to Hercules, a thyrsis to Bacchus ; to Minerva a
shield or £gis, and to Diana the bow and arrows.

The Hindus, in like manner, have put arms in the hands of each
of their principal deities, with the exception of Brahma ; who, as we
have seen, neither wears arms, nor rides ; who has no temple, nor
sacrifice, nor any other worsh^) whatever.

The various weapons which the Hindus assign to their several gods,
and which appear to be isuch as were anciently used by that people in
war, are thirty-two in number. Of these, some are missile, such ^s
the arrow; the vana, composed of combustible materials, and the
chakram^ which will be afterwards mentioned. Some are defensive,
as the shield; but the chief part are offensive. It is not easy to de-

•THB PRINCIPAL DIVINITIBS. 44S

scribe, in an European tongue, the form of the different sorjts of arms
that were anciently used by the Hindus in battle, and which are still
to be seen in the hands of their idols. No just idea of them can be
communicated without a drawing. Of the weapons, not missile, some
are used to stab, some to hack, and some to fell* Others seem in-
tended for grappling, and some for warding off.

Five weapons are given to Vishnu, called in the aggregate Punch-
aytidhaj and which he severally used, according to the various
characters which he assumed. Their names are Sankhaj Chakram^
KhadgUy Gaduy Samnga. The two principal, with which he is
most commonly equipped, are the sankha, which he wields in his left
hand, and the chakram, which hç bears in the right .

Siva has two weapons, the trimla and the damru; and every
other principal deity ha3 his peculiar instrument, with which he is
always represented.

Another point of resemblance between the Hindu gods and
those of ancient Greece consists in the manner in which they were
mounted. The Greeks and Romans represented Jupiter as seated on
an eagle, Neptune in a chariot drawn by two sea-horses, Pluto in one
drawn by four black horses. Mars mounted on a cock, Bacchus with
a team of tigers, Juno with her peacocks, and Pallas with the solemn
owl. ^

The Hindus have, in like manner, assigned to each of their chieC
gods their peculiar vehicle, Brahm& alone being excepted. Vishnu
generally rode on the bird Garuda, and Siva on the bull.

Following up this subject, we shall give a brief account of the
equipage and arms of the other leading deities, as well as of the eight
gods who are known by the appellation of Ashta-dik-pala-guru, or
those who preside over the eight principal points of the compass.
For each portion of the world has a god, who specially presides over
it, and favours it with his protection. The names of these gods, with
their appropriate vehicle, arms, habiliment, and the quarter of the
earth to which they severally belong, are briefly expressed in the
following table.

3l 2

i41

THB PRINCIPAL DIVINITIBS-..

^The ÂshtaFdikrpalarguru, or gods
principal divisions of the world

Names.

1. Ikdra -

2. Agni -
S. Yaica -

4. NiBUT -

5. Varuna

6. Vayu

7. KUVERA
& ISANA -

Quarters o^er
which they preâde.

East

South-East

South

South-west

West

North-west

North

North-east

How mounted*

The Elephant
The Ram -
TheBuffido -
Man - -
Hie Crocodile
Hie Antelope
The Horse -
The Bull

Weapoos.

Cdour of Oothing.

Vajra

Red.

Sikhi

Violet

Danda

Bright-yellow.

Cookah

Deep-yellow.

Pasa

White.

Dwaja

Blue or Tndigo<

Khadga

Rose colour.

Trisula

Gray.

(445 )•

CHAP. V.

OF THE W0B8HIP OF AUtUALSy AND THAT OF THE BVTAU OR MALEVOLENT BBIN06*

vyF all kinds of superstition by which the human intellect has been
clogged, degraded, and debased, the worship of Brute Animals seems
to be the most humiliating to our species. If we did not attend to the
origin and the predisposing causes, we could hardly credit that rational
beings should descend so far beneath the dignity of their nature as to
Stoop to the adoration of brutes. But it may be suggested, as soin^
apology for this monstrous aberration of human reason, that, in all ag^t
the superstitious bias has received an ijnpulse, through the chanpel qf
Religion, from motives of fear or interest ; and that it has Ijeen a nature
impression amongst all idolatrous nations to pay adoration to whatever
can be detrimental or useful.

It is sufficiently known that Animal worship was established and uni-
versally observed amongst the Egyptians. The noxious kinds, and the
useful, shared alike in their adoration. They erected altars and offered
incense to the Bull Apis, the Bird Ibis, to the Kite, the Crocodile, and
a vast variety of other animals.

The Eg3rptians, however, limited their religious adoration of aniiDals
to a small number of sorts, the most beneficial or the most dangerous j
while the Hindus, in all things extravagant, pay honour and worshijp,
less or more solemn, to almost every living creature, whether quadra
ped, bird, or reptile. The Ape, the Tiger, the Elephant, the Horse^
the Ox, the Stag, the Sheep, the Hog, the Dog, the Cat, the Rat, the
Peacock, the Eagle, the Cock, the Hawk, the Serpent, the ChameleQ|i|
the Lizard, the Tortoise, all kinds of amphibious creatur^^ Fish^S9 fluid
even Insects, have been consecrated by Hindu foUy. Every living

446 THE WORSHIP OF ANIMALS.

creature that can be supposed capable of effecting good or evil in the
smallest degree, has become a sort of divinity and Is entitled to ador*
ation and sacrifice.

But) amidst the variety of animals, some have been more interesting
than others, and have consequently received higher honours ; either on
account of their superior utility, or the greater dread they inspire.
Here we may rank the Cow, the Ox, the Ape, the bird of prey known
there under the name of Garuda^ and the serpent Capella. We shall
add a few words concerning each of these four species, whose images
are represented in every quarter.

The Ape, known by the name of Hanum^n.

The motive which induced the early idolaters of In^a to make the
Ape one of their principal divinities was, in all probability, founded on
the striking resemblance which they remarked between, that animal and
man, in exterior appearance and' physical relations. They considered
it as holding the first rank in the order of brutes, and consequently as
the king of the animals ; and, after deifying it, they chose to perpetuate
its honours by inventing the infinite collection of fables with which their
books are filled.

It was with an army of Apes that their great hero Rama conquered
Lanka, or Ceylon ; and the achievements of this host of satyrs, under
the command of the great Ape Hanuman, occupies the greater part
of the Ramayana, the most celebrated of their historical works. The
worship of this leader extends over all the territory of India, and espe*
cially amongst the followers of Vishnu, but the sect of Siva does not
admit of his daim.

His idol is every where seen in the temples, choultries, and other
places fi'equented by the people ; and it is also frequently found in the
woods, and under thick trees in desert places. But particularly where
the Vishnuvites abound, one meets almost every where with the favourite
idol of Hanuman. The sacrifices offered to it consist of the simplest
productions of nature.

THE WORSHIP OF ANIBIALS» 44<f

In parts frequented by apes, devotees are often seen to make it their
duty to give them part of their food"; and they consider it as a very
meritorious act

Baswa or The Bull.

The Bull is the favourite God of the worshippers of Siva. They cox^
stantly represent the God as its rider, and as performing aU his joumies
on its back. The worship of this animal, as well as of the Cow, is well
known to have prevailed in many ancient nations ; and the superstitious
reverence of the Egyptians for their God Apis was carried to the utmost
excess.

Bryant, in his Treatise of Mythology, seems to be of opinion that th^
first origin of the worship of these sacred animals, so universal among
ancient nations, proceeded from the respect in which the first men long
continued to hold the Ark of Noah, of which they considered the Cow
as the symbol. I am surprized that the learned writer should have pro-
posed so improbable a solution, when a natural and reasonable one
occurs to every mind that attends to the genius of idolatry: that the
worship and reverence so universally paid to this species of animals pro-^.
ceeded from their great utility and the indispensable services they ren«»
der to society. These services are so essential to the Hindus, that we
may boldly assert that, without the help of the ox and the supplies from
the cow, they would be unable to exist They saw no other animal so
useful, and they naturally regarded it as a beneficent God, and one of
the most sacred objects of worship.

The image of it is seen in almost every temple, and in most other
places frequented by the people.

. But among all the worshippers of this animal, the sect of Siva pay It
the most particular devotion ; and, in the districts where they predo*
minate, nothing is to be seen but the representation of their favourite
idol Baswa, or the Bull, on a pedestal, lying flat on his belly.

Monday in every week, as before hinted, is set apart to the honour
of Baswa. On that day, the Sivites give r^ose to their cattle, :and
release them from labour. , 1

•

448 'nos WORSHIP of anikals;

The Bird Garuda.

The Garuda is of the nature of a bird of prey, and is held in the
highest veneration by the Hindus, and particularly by the tribe of
Vishnu. It is the ordinary vehicle on which that God performs his
journies. The Vishnuvite Brahmans, every morning after ablution,
wait for the appearance of one of those birds, in order to pay it
adoration.

It is every where to be seen about the villages. It is bigger than
our falcon, but much smaller than the least of our eagles. Its plumage
is handsome. The feathers of the. head, neck, and breast, are of a
very bright and glossy white ; and those of the back, wings, and tail^
fi>rm a sort of mantle of a beautiful brown. But when it approadies
tiear, it becomes offensive, from its uppleasant odour. Its ordinary cry
is a kind offeree^ kree! uttered with a hoarse and croaking scream, pro-
longing the sound at the end in a very disagreeable way.

Although it appears a vigorous bird ; and it actually possesses great
advantages in its strong hooked bill and powerful talons ; yet it never
attacks other birds that can oppose the least resistance. It by no means
Jias the courage of the hawk. Its timid and indolent nature would
rather rank it with the buzzard or raven ; ^ though it does not, like them,
pounce upon carrion. Its ordinary food is the lizards, mice, and, above
idl, the snakes, which it carries up alive in its cl^ws to a great height,
and there lets them fall upon the ground. It descends after them, and,
if it does not find them dead after one fall, it gives them a second, and
then quietly retires to some neighbouring tree to devour them.

It is probably the service which it does to society, in destroying nox*
ious reptiles and other disgusting animals, that has been the means of
pVotecting it, and raising it to the rank of a principal divinity. It was
the same motive that prompted the Egyptians to consecrate the Ibis,
and pay it homage.

The Garuda also devours frogs and little fishes, which it catches
with its claws in shallow waters. It is also a dangerous enemy to the
poultry yard j hut it is so cowardly that an angry hen can put it to
flight ; and it can only venture on some unguarded chicken.

THE WORSHIP OF ANIMALS. 4411

I have entered into these details» because the bird seems but little
known to our European ornithologists. Being under the protection of
superstition, it approaches a man without fear» and is seen every where
about the villages, from which it seldom strays. It is of heavy flight»
and never moimts high in the aixé

Sunday is the day particularly set apart for the worship of this sacred
fowl. Troops* of people are then seen unitilig in their adorati<di and
sacrifice ; after which» they call the birds, and throw bits of meat in the
air, which they nimbly catch with dieir talons.

• It would be held as heinous an ofifenoe» particularly among the fol^
lowers of Vishnu, to kill one of tUese fowls as to commit manslaughter ;
and when they find one dead^ they bury it ceremoniously» and crowds
of people attend» with instruments of music» and with every demon-
stration of deep afiliction. i

They observe the same practice on the de^h of an ape or of â
Capella serpent, and use many ceremonies for the purpose of expiating
the destruction of those sacred creatures.

The Serpent.
Of all noxious animals found in India, there are none that oc-

casion more fi'equent or more fatal evils than the serpents. Those
inflicted by the tiger, though very firightfiil also, more seldom occur
and are less universally felt than what proceed firom the venom of these
dangerous reptiles. During my whole residence in India» hardly a
month has passed without some person in my neighbourhood sufiering'
sudden death by the bite of a serpent. /

Ofte of the commonest, and at the same time the most venomous» as
its bite sometimes Occasions instant death» is what in Ettrope is
generally called the Capella. It is met with, unfortunately, every
where ; and it is for that reason that the Hindus ofier sacrifice and
adoration to it, above all others. It is more venerated than the rest of
the pernicious creatures, because it is the most dreaded of any. Fear
of the dreadfiil and frequent evils which it occasions» has indeed niade

450 I^S WORSHIP 0£ ANIMALS.

it the most sacred of animals) upon the same principle that the
Egyptians pay divine honours to the crocodile.

In order to impress more strongly on the mind, the danger of this
jbaleful agent, and the necessity for worshipping it, so as to render it
propitious, the Hindus have filled their books with tales concerning so
active an enemy of the human race ; and, on the other hand, figures
of them are represented in most of the temples and on the other
public monuments 'and buildings. They seek out their holes, which
are generally excavated in the hillocks of earth thrown up by the
kariah or- white ants ; and when they find one, they go fi^om time to
time, and ofier to it oblations of milk, bananas and other articles for
nourishment.

When pne of these dangerous guests intrudes himself into their
houses, so far fi'om turning him out, many of them will rather make
sacrifices to him, and give him food every day. Some instances are
kjiown where Capella serpents have been entertained in houses, in this
manner, for several years ; but in no case are they ever injured, and it

would be a heinous crime to kill them.

One of the eighteen annual festivals of the Hindus is especially con-
secrated to the worship of the serpent Capella, which is celebrated on
the fifi:h day of the moon in December, called for that reason Niiga
Panchami ; naga being the Hindu name for this serpent.
• Temples are also erected to them in many places, of which there is
one of great celebrity in the west of the Mysore, at a place called
Subrahmanya ; a name derived from the great serpent Subraya, which
is renowned in Hindu fable, and the principal deity honoured at this
pagoda.

When the festival comes round, a vast crowd of people assembles to
offer sacrifices to the creeping gods, in their sacred dome. Many
serpents, both of the Capella and other species, have taken up their
residence within it, in holes made for the purpose. ^ They are kept
and well fed by the presiding Brahmans with milk, buttfr, and bananas»
By the protection they here enjoy they multiply exceedingly, and may
be seen swarming firom every cranny in the temple : and a terrible
sacrilege it would be to injure or mcdest them»

lOALGVOLENT FIENDS. 45I

But the Hindu superstition is so inexhaustible that other kinds of
animals, besides those we have enumerated, come in for a share of
thwr adoration. Even fishes are not excluded. Devout Brahmans are
often seen casting rice into the waters to feed them ; and, in many
places, all fishing is prohibited. In times before the Pagan Princes
ceased to rule in the Mysore, they made it their constant practice to
throw a quantity o^ boiled rice into the Cavery for the susteoance of
the fishes.

^ The Bhuta or MaievolerU Fiendê.

AU nations of the earth, civilized or barbarous, have acknowledged
the pi(istence of certain evil spirits, whose' nature and constant employ-
ment it is to injure men in various ways. Revealed religion alone gives
Just and rational views of the subject. Superstition, on the other
hand, engendered by fear and nourished by . ignorance, has conjured
up a thousand absurd and ridiculous fables, on a subject so well suited
to them. People, who have not surmounted their crude notions con*
cerning the general dispensation of Providence) when they find theni-
selves unable to discover the causes of the cross accidents, however
common, which befal them in the ordinary course of nature, cannot
help ascribing them to the agency of invisible and wicked beings,
who delight in bringing . upon men the various ills and miseries to
which they are exposed. The next step is to seek to propitiate the
fiend by prayers, adoration, and sacrifice.

We have seen, in the course of this work, to what pitch the Hindus
carry their credulity in this particular. The worship of demons is
universally established and practised amongst them. They call them
Bhuta which also signifies Elenient ; as if the elements were in fact
nothing else but wicked spirits personified, from whose wrath and fury
all the disturbances of nature arise. Malign spirits are also called by
the generic names of Pisacha (or Pishashu) and Duitya.

In many parts we meet with temples specially devoted to the worship
of wicked spirits. There are districts also in which it almost ex^
clusively predominates. Such is that long chain of mountains which

3m 2

452 MALEVOLENT HEMDS.

extend on the west of the Mysore^ where the ^eatar part of the
inhabitants practise no other worship but that of the devil; £very
house and each family has its own particular Bbuta, who stands £>r
its tutelary god; and to whom daily prayers and propitiatory ^sactifices
are o£fered) not only to incline him to withhold his own machinations,
but to defend them from the evils wh^ch the BhiUiis of their neighbours
or enemies might inflict In those parts» the image of the demon is
every where seen, represented in a hideous form, and often by a
shapeless stone. . Each of these fiends has his particular name ; and
some, who are more powerfiil and atrocious than others, are preferred
in the same proportion.

AU evil demons love bloody offerings ; and therefore their ardent
worsbippera sacrifice living victims, such as buffidoes, hogs, lama,
cocks, and the like. When rice is ofiered, it must be -tinged with
falood ; and they are also soothed with inebriating» drinks. In ofierings
of flowers the red only are presented to them*

The worship of the Bhutas and the manner of conducting it are
explained in the fourth veda of the Hindus called Atharvana-veda ;
and it is on that account very carefully concealed by the Brahmans.

I have very generally found that the direct woïship of demons is
most prevalent in deserts, solitary places, and mountainous tracts;
the reason of which is that in such parts the people are less civilized
than those of the plains, more ignorant and timid, and therefore
more prone to superstition. They are therefore more easily led to
attribute all their misadventures and afflictions to the displeasure of
their demon.

. Many hordes of savages, who are scattered amongst the forests on the
coast of Malabar, and in the woods and mountains of the Camatic,
who are known by the names of Kadu, Kuruberu, Soligueru, and Iruler,
acknowledge no other deity but the Bhutas.

The nature of the Hindus is so much disposed to idolatry, that all
visible objects are adored whether animated or inanimate. Of the
latter class, the vegetable^ race affords them several subjects of particular
.adoration.

WOaaHlP OF PLANTS.

453

The feast of Divuligay, formerly described, is the occasion generally
taken to pay spebial reverence to plants, by offering them sacrifices.
The farmers repeat them many times in the course of the year.

Among the trees, there are some which the Hindu superstition has
distinguished with particular honours, on account of the good or evil
they are capable of producing. Of the mischievous kind, there is a
prickly shrub, the points of which are venomous ; to avert the effect of
which they offer a sacrifice of a particular nature. It consists in stick-
ing rags on its branches, with which it is sometimes wholly covered.
Those who have travelled in the southern provinces must have observed
many examples of this.

Amongst the useful trees whioh are worshipped with particular re*
verence, less regard is shewn to those which excel in-iruit than to such
as afford the coolest shade by the thickness of their foliage. The prin-
cipal of these are the Jruli or Aras Maram^ Vepan or Bevina Mwomy
Alimaramy and some others which yield a grateful shelter from the
burnbg climate.

But the most celebrated of all is that which goes by the name of
Alimaram. The branches of this tree extend sometimes to the distance
of more than a quarter of a league. It darts roots from its branches,
which hang like a tissue of fibres, till they reach the ground, into
which they gradually make their way ; each creating, in a short time,
a new trunk, which invigorates the branch it descended from, and
shoots out new ones ; which, afler a while, eject young fibres, in their
turn, to produce fresh trunks to the tree; which thus continues to ex-
pand, as long as it finds an appropriate soil, or meets with no insuper-
able obstruction.

( 454 )

CHAR VI.

OF THE PARIAHS AND OTHER INFERIOR CASTS OP HINDUS.

After having so long dwelt upon the Brahmans, in particular, and
the other casts of Hindus, in general ; I am called upon to say some-
thing concerning certain tribes, who from their inferiority of rank, and
the contempt in which they are held, are considered as a separate race,
cut off from the great family of society. The best knowi) and the most
numerous of these is the tribe of the Pareyer^ as they are called in the
Tamul tongue, from which is corrupted the Europeai) term Fariah.
The cast is found every where, and I compute that it must include at
least a fifth of the whole population of the peninsula. It is divided,
like the other subordinate tribes, into several classes, each of which
disputes with the rest for superiority ; but they are all held in equal
contempt by the generality of the other classes.

What I have to report concerning this cast will form a decided con-
trast with what I have remarked relative to the Brahmans^ and will
afford an additional proof of what I have so often repeated, that the
Hindus are unable, under any circumstances, to preserve a middle
course. It will be now shewn that they are not less vehement in the
contempt and distance with which they treat the persons here alluded
to, than in the honours which they accumulate on such of them as are
elevated above the rest, by having acquired a sacred character.

In all districts of the peninsula, the Pariahs are entirely subjected to
the other casts, and rigorously treated by them all. In general, they
even have not permission to cultivate the ground for their own use, but
are compelled to hire themselves to other casts ; for whom, for a small
allowance, they are obliged to undergo the most severe labours, and to

INFERIOR CASTS. 455

submit to be beaten at pleasure ; and, in truth, the Pariahs of India are
not to be considered in any other light than as the born slaves of the
other tribes. At least there is as great a distance between them and
the other casts as subsists in our colonies between the planters and their
slaves- These lead not a harder life than the Pariahs, and the usage of
both is equally severe.

The distance and aversion which the other casts, and the Brahmans
in particular, manifest for the Pariahs are carried so far that, in many
places, their very approach is sufficient to pollute the whole neighbour-
hood. They are not permitted to enter the street where the Bralimans
live. If they venture to transgress, those superior beings would have
the right, -not to assault them themselves, because it would be pollution
to touch them even with the end of a long pole, but they would be en-
titled to give them a sound beating by the hands of others ; or even
to make an end <^ them, which has often happened, by the orders of
the native Princes, without dispute or inquiry. .

He who is touched, even without being conscious of it, by a Pariah^
is defiled, and cannot be purified from the stain, or communicate with
any individual, without undergoing a variety of ceremonies, more or
less difficult according to the rank of the individual and the custom of
the cast. to which he belongs.

Any person who, from whatever accident^ has eaten with Pariahs, or
of food provided by them- ; or even drank of the water which they have
drawn, or which was contained in earthen vessels which they had
handled ; any one who has set his foot in theiï houses or permitted
them to enter his own, Would be proscribed, without pity, from his cast,
and would never be restored -without a number of troublesome ceremo-
nies and great expence. And if he were known to join in carnal in-
tercourse with a female of the tribe, he would be treate4. with equal
severity.

This extreme detestation of the Pariahs by other casts, is not carried
to the same extent in all districts. It prevails chiefly in the southern
parts of the peninsula, and becomes less apparent in the north. In
that quarter of the Mysore, where I am now writing ' these pages, the
higher casts endure the approach of the Pariahs ; for they suffer them

456 INFERIOR CASTS.

to enter that part of the house which shelters the cows ; and in sotne
cases they have been permitted to shew their head, and one foot, in the
apartment of the master of the house. I have been informed that this
wide distinction between these casts becomes less apparent as you go
northward, till at last it almost totally disappears.

But the distinction itself appears to be of very old standing, being
particularly referred to in several of the ancient Furanas ; and it is
inore than probable that this despised tribe was originally created by
the union of individuals of all casts who were expelled for bad conduct
and transgression of the rules of their order ; and who had nothing to
look to or fear after this absolute exclusion from the society of honour-
able men. They would naturally be led to give themselves up to every
excess, without restraint. In that abandoned course of life they still
continue ; and all the other casts would probably have fallen into it
also, or, if it were possible, into a worse, if it had not been for the
wholesome restraint of private duty \md domestic discipline. The
distance, however, which exists between the Pariahs and the other
tribes does not appear to have been so great, at the first, as it is at
present. Although the lowest of the casts, it is ranked, nevertheless,
with that of the Sudras ; and they are considered to have derived their
origin from the same source. Even at the present time, they pass for
the descendants of the first cast among the Cultivators ; who do not
disdain to call them their children. But we must also observe, that if
the better class of the Sudras considers the Pariahs to be sprung firom the
same stock with themselves, and represents them, in speculation, as
their children, they are very far from reducing their theory to practice.
In no instance, indeed, can the Hindus have shewn a wider difiPerence
between their professions and practice.

The European inhabitants are under the necessity of employing Pa-
riahs for servants, because a great part of their work could not be done
by persons of any other cast. -There is, for example, no member of a
Sudra tribe that would submit to brush the shoes of his master, or to
draw off his boots to clean them ; but far less could any such person be
induced, by any reward, to be his cook ; because the Europeans make
no secret of violating the prejudices of the people amongst whom they

INFERIOR CASTS. 457

live, by commanding beef to be prepared for their tables. They have,
no other choice, therefore» but to make use of the unscrupulous Pariah,
in that department of their household. And it may well be imagined, that
if Europeans are detested by the superstitious Hindus, on account of
the nature of their food, this sentiment will not be weakened by con«
sidering what degraded beings are necessarily employed in preparing
it. For the prejudices of the country will not permit that any one but
a Pariah shall eat what has been dressed by a Pariah. .

It cannot be questioned that the want of delicacy on the part of the
Europeans, in admitting Pariahs into their menial service, gives more
offence and occasions more disgust to the Hindus, than any thing
besides, and is the principal cause of preventing persons of a decent
cast from serving them in that capacity. They are exposed, therefore,
to faithless domestics, in whom they cannot confide. And if, at any time,
one sees in the houses of the Europeans any others besides Pariahs,
they are, generally found to be infamous and unprincipled fellows,
driven from their casts and from, all society, and compelled to take
refuge in the most degrading servitude. It is unquestionable that the
worst of the whole race, and the most vicious, are such as follow this
course of life ; for no reputable or well bdhaved man amongst tliem
would endure to be thus confounded with the Pariahs.

Another consideration, which creates a dislike to serve Europeans,
is the great distance at which they keep their . domestics, and the in-
dignities and bad treatment which they frequently make them submit
to, but above all the kick of a foot covered with the pollution of a
leathern shoe or a boot.

The Pariahs, who are accustomed to servile treatment from their
infancy, patiently endure all these indignities ; but it is far otherwise
with the other casts, who are by nature high-spirited and proud.
Besides, the condition of a servant in India is by no means degrading.
The footman eats with his master, the maid-servant with her mistress,
and they all go on side by side, in the intercourse of life. The conduct
of the European settlers being so opposite in this respect, it is no
wonder that their service should be held in dislike by all persons of

3 N

458 INFERIOR CASTS.

decent sentiments and habits^ and be left entirely to the refuse of
all casts.

But, if the cast of the Pariahs be held in low and vile repute, it must
be admitted that it deserves to be so, by the conduct of the indivi-
duals, and the sort of life which they lead. The most of them sell
themselves, with their wives and children, for slaves to the
farmers ; who make them undergo the hardest labours of agriculture,
and treat them with the utmost severity. They are likewise the
scavengers of the villages, their business being to keep the thorough&res
dean, and to remove all the filth as it coUects in the houses. Yet
these, notwithstanding the meanness of their employment, are generally
better treated than the others; because there is superadded to the
disgusting employment we have mentioned the cleanlier duty of dis-
tributing the waters of the tanks and canals for irrigating the rice
plantations of the inhabitants of the village ; who, for that reason,
cannot avoid feeling some kindness in their behalf.

Some of them, who do not live in this state of servitude, are em-
ployed to take care of the horses of individuals, or of the army, or of
elephants and oxen. They are also the porters, and run upon errands
and messages. In some parts they are permitted to cultivate the
lands, for their own benefit ; and in others they can exercise the pro-
fession of weavers. Of late, they have occasionaUy been admitted
into the European armies, and those of the native Princes, in which
they hate sometimes attained considerable distinction. In point of
courage, they are not inferior to any other Hindu cast ; but the edu-
cation they receive deprives them of all the other qualities of a soldier.
It is difficult to imbue them with military discipline ; and, on the other
hand, they are entirely devoid of every principle of honour. Knowing
that they have nothing to lose in the esteem of the other casts, they
give themselves up without shame or scruple to all sorts of vice j and
the greatest irregularities reign amongst them, without afiecting them
with the slightest remorse.

The vices of the Pariahs lean to sensuality, as those of the Brahmans
do to knavery. There is a coarseness about them which excites

INFERIOR CASTS. 459

abhorrence. Their harsh and rugged features betray their inward
character ; yet it may be truly said, that the grossness of their manners
and demeanour exceeds that of their external figure. They are
exceedingly addicted to drunkenness ; a vice much abhorred by all
other Hindus. The liquor which they most enjoy is the juice of the
palm, which they commonly drink when in a state of fermentation ;
and, though it then stinks abominably, they seem to take it for nectar.
Their intemperance not only occasions frequent quarrels amongst
them, but leads to the cruel treatment of their wives. In that con^
dition, they often fall upon them with blows, even when in a state of
pregnancy ; and we may ascribe in a great degree to the barbarous
treatment they experience from their drunken husbands the greater
frequency of abortion among the Pariah women than in any of the
other casts.

But that which renders them most odious to the other Hindus is the
abominable food with which they gorge their appetites. Attracted by
the stench of a rotten carcass, they fly in crowds to dispute the
infectious carrion with the dogs, the ravens and other birds of prey.
They share the mass of corruption, and retire to their dens to devour
it without rice, seasoning, or any other accompaniment. Little da
they care of what disease the animal may have died ; for they make
no scruple to poison secsetly their neighbour's oxen and cows, to
provide a savage repast for their ravenous appetites. AU animals that
die, in any place, belong of right to the bailiff of the village ; who
disposes of the carcasses, at a low price, to the Pariahs in the neigh-
bourhood. What they do not immediately consume they dry in the
sun, to be laid up for a future occasion. In almost all their houses,
lumps of carrion, strung together, are seen hanging on the wail. The
infectious odour is not regarded by the inhabitants, but it is quickly
perceived by a traveller passing through the village, who is at no loss
to determine what cast he is amongst. To this horrible food may be
attributed many of the contagious diseases which prevail constantly ia
their habitations, from which the other casts in the neighbourhood are
wholly exempt.

3n 9

460 INFERIOR CASTS.

After this description, is it to be wondered at that the Pariahs are
held in abhorrence by the other casts ? Are these to be blamed for
>fefusing all connection with such wretches, and obliging them to
live apart, and in villages wholly detached from the rest of the
population ?

■

Besides the cast of Pariahs, which is spread over all the provinces of
the peninsula, there are some others, peculiar to certain districts, which
equal, or even surpass it, in brutality of sentiment, irregularity of
life, and also in the abhorrence in which they are held. Such is the
cast of the Fallis^ which is little known but in the kingdom of
Madura and other parts bordering on Cape Comorin. They boast a
superiority over the Paiiahs, because they do not eat the flesh of the
cow or ox ; but the Pariahs hold them to be far beneath themselves,
as belonging to the left-hand^ of which they are the dregs; whilst
they themselves pertain to the right-handj of which they account them-
selves the firmest support. The history of the two hands we have
already given ; and we failed not to commemorate the effectual aid
which the Pariahs are accustomed to lend in turning the tide of battle
against the heresy of the left-hand.

In the mountainous tract of the Malabar Coast there is to be seen a
cast still more low and depressed than any we have yet mentioned.
They are called Pw/ta«; who are considered to be far beneath the beasts
who traverse their forests, and equally ^hare the dominion in them. It
is not permitted to them to erect a house, but only a sort of shed, sup-
ported on four bamboos, and open on all sides. It shelters them from
the rain,' but not from the injuries of the weather. They dare not walk
on the common road, as their steps would defile it. When they see
any person coming at a distance, they must give him notice, by a loud
cry, and make a great circuit to let him pass. The least distance they
are permitted to keep from persons of a different cast, is about a hun-
dred paces.

In all the provinces of the peninsula, the cast of the Shoemakers is held
to be very infamous, and as below the Pariahs. They are inferior to

INTERIOR CASTS. 4gl

them, from the baseness of their sentiments, and the total want of
honour and of all feeling of shame. Their manners are also more gross,
and they are more addicted to gluttony and intemperance. They get
merry towards the evenings ; and it is not long before the villages re-
sound with the cries and quarrels occasioned by their cups. They are
all wretchedly poor ; even beneath the level of the Pariahs. These,
though rarely, enjoy a temporary abundance, but the wretched Chakiti^
or coblers, exist in absolute indigence. But they can the less complain,
as their misery arises chiefly out of their ebriety ; a privilege which is
nearly peculiar to themselves. They will never work while they have
any thing to drink, and they never return to their work till their purse
is exhausted ; passing in this manner, alternately from labour to drunk-
enness, and from drunkenness to labour. Their women do not allow
themselves to be surpassed by their husbands in any vicious habit,
and particularly in that of intemperance. And nothing more need be
said of their morals or behaviour.

Among the Pariahs, there is one sort greatly elevated above the rest ;
with whom they form no alliance, but consider themselves as their
Gurus or Vcduvers^ as they are called. They are likewise named in de-
rision, the Brahmans of the Pariahs; in allusion, no doubt, to their con-
ducting the marriage-:rites and other ceremonies of that people. They
likewise publish a part of the lies contained in the almanack ; such as
the good and evil days, the favourable and unfavourable moments for
commencing an enterprize ; and other follies. But they are not allowed
to be editors of the astronomical part of the publication, relating to the
eclipses, new and full moon, and such important matters ; which en-
tirely belong to the Brahmans.

Besides those low and despised sects, there are many others, which
though greatly above them, are still regarded with contempt by the ge-
nerality of Hindus, and held to occupy the lowest rank of all the kinds
of Sudras. These tribes have sunk in the public opinion, by living in a
sort of vassalage beneath the other casts, or by exercising trades which
frequently expose them to pollution ; or, in mapy instances, because
they lead a wandering and roving life, which involves them in frequent
breaches of the most revered and established customs.

452 INFERIOR CASTS.

Of the vulgar casts, two of the lowest are the Barbers and the Whit'-
iters. One or more families belonging to each of these casts, exercise
their respective trades in every village ; from which they must not pass
into a neighbouring village to work, without leave. These two trades
descend from father to son, from one generation to another ; and those
who exercise them form two distinct tribes. The Barber is obliged to
shave and to cut the hair and nails of all the inhabitants of the vil-
lage. In many districts, the custom is to be shaved in every part of
the body where hair grows ; and this custom is very generally observed,
particularly by the Brahmans, on their marriage day and other solemn
occasions.

As to the Whitster, he is bound to wash not only all the clothing
which men and women wear, but also the filthiest rags that have
been used in keeping the children in decent order, or even for more
disgusting purposes. These two professions reduce those that practise
them to a state of dependence, which does not admit of their declin-
ing to do any thing at aU connected with their trade. They are paid
by the inhabitants, in kind, once a year^ afler the grain is got in.
Their servile condition, and the filthy nature of their employment, na-
turally produce the general contempt in which they are held by all the
casts, who look upon them merely as their slaves.

The cast of Potiers and tliat of Utarans^ whose principal employment
consists in building walls of earth, digging tanks, and keeping their
banks in repair, are likewise considered as low tribes, by the Sudras.
The education of these people corresponds to the meanness of their
origin. Their mind is as uncultivated as their manners ; and every
thing seems to justify the small esteem in which they are held.

The tribe of Mushiers^ or workers in the skins of animals, used in
dress, though not so much despised as the preceding, yet possess no
degree of consideration. They are not admitted, by the other casts,
into any familiarity, or to eat or drink out of the same vessels with
them. This is accounted for by the filth they are exposed to in handling
the skins.

INFERIOR CASTS. 4Q3

The other working casts, such as carpenters, blacksmiths, goldsmiths,
founders, and in general all who exercise handicraft trades enjoy no
^reat degree of consideration among the other casts of the Sudras.

The ornamental arts, such as painting, instrumental music, and the
like, are extremely low in estimation. Hardly any but the low tribe
of the Mushiers exercise the first of these ; and music is nearly confined
to the Barbers and Pariahs : instrumental music wholly so. The small
encouragement these two arts receive is, no doubt, owing to the little
progress they have made. In painting, nothing can be seen but
mere daubing, set ofi* with bright colours and extravagant glare. Andy
although all Hindus are great lovers of music, introducing it into all
their civil and religious ceremonies, yet I can vouch that it is still in its
infancy ; and probably they have made no progress in it for three thou-
sand years. In their festivals, and on other occasions, it is not the coi^
cord of sweet sounds that they require fi:om their musicians. Confu-
sion and obstreperous noise is more agreeable to their untutored senses^
with sounds so harsh and piercing as would almost rend the drum of an
European ear. And it must be owned that their taste in this respect
is fully gratified by their performers.

But, harsh and discordant as their music is, it pleases them infinitely
more than ours. This I have often experienced. Of our instruments
they love only the drum. The sound of our sweetest instruments, pro-
ducing a melody which soothes and delights our perceptions, and ex-
cites the most pleasant emotions, has no efiPect whatever on ears so per-
petually stunned with loud and jarring dissonance.

Their vocal music is almost as little adapted to delight an European
ear. An insipid monotony pervades their singing ;' and, although they
have a gamut, composed of seven notes, like ours, they have never ap-
plied it to create the diversity, proportion, and combination wliich have
so many charms for us.

The contempt in which players on wind instruments are held, I be-
lieve, arises chiefly fi-om the defilement which is supposed to be con-
tracted by applying the mouth to apertures so often polluted with

464: INFERIOR CASTS.

spittle. Stringed instruments being free from this objection, the
highest casts, even the Brahmans themselves, do^not disdain to ipake
an accompaniment to their own voices, by touching a small harp called
Vuny or VinUy which is used all over India. Its notes are so far from
lacerating the ear, like those of their wind instruments, that, on the
contrary, they may be listened to with pleasure, by an European ;
though they would give greater pleasure if they were more diversified.
The Brahmans almost exclusively practise on this instrument.

The use of the Vina is very ancient among the Hindus. Its name

is mentioned in almost all their early writings, as an instrument in

&vour with the great. Brahmans, Kings, Princes, and the Gods them-

* selves, learn to strike it ; and many of them are ex^toUed for their pro-;

ficiency.

' It appears to me very probable that the Vina of the Brahmans is
the same as the Cithara, or the Hebrew Harp, so often mentioned in
the sacred writings ; on which the holy King David so much excelled^
and from which he drew sounds that could tame the fury of his unfor-
tunate master Saul, when forsaken of God and agitated by all th&
passions.

The Harp appears to have been the instrument of the upper ranks
amongst the Hebrews, as the Vina is amongst the Hindus. We have
observed that the Brahmans alone are proficients on this instrument ;
but truly they pay dear for the distinction, and their time of probation
is very tedious. It is a great deal if the scholar is able to play the two
and thirty Hindu airs afler four or five years of practice.

Besides the Vina, they have a stringed instrument called Kinnara
a sort of guitar, which is also in great esteem.

The strings of their instruments are never made, as ours oflen are, of
tlie guts of animals, but always of metal wires. The purity of the
Brahman could not possibly finger the catgut.

A second description of men of degraded rank, in the eyes of the
Hindus, consists of those who are addicted to a vagrant and wandering
life, which leads them into a continual violation of the received prac-
tices, and makes them suspected characters. There are several casts of

• INFERIOR CASTS. 435

this sort, who have no permanent abode, but ^re in continual migration.
ISuch are the Kuravers or Kurumeru^ the Lambady or Sukatersy and many
others ; some of whom we shall briefly point Out.

The vagrants called Kuravers or Kurumeru are divided into three
branches. One of these is chiefly engaged in the traffic of Salt, which
they go, in bands, to the coasts to procure, and carry it to the interior
of the country on the backs of asses, which they have in great droves ;
and when they have disposed of their cargoes, they reload the beasts
with the sort of grain in greatest request on the coast ; to which they
return without loss of time. Thus their whole lives are passed in tran-
sit, without a place of settlement in any part of the land.

The trade of another branch of the Kurumeru is the manufacture of
osier panniers, wicker baskets and other household utensils of that sOrt,
or bamboo mats. This class, like the preceding, are compelled to tra-
verse the whole country, from place to place, in quest of employment.
All of them live under little tents, constructed of woven bamboos, three
feet high, four or five broad, and five or six in length ; in which they
squat, man, wife, and children, and shelter themselves from the weather.
When they find no more work in the district, they fold up their tents
and remove to the next population.

These vagabonds never think of saving any thing for future wants^
but spend every day all they earn, and sometimes more. They must
therefore live in grievous poverty ; and, when their work fails thesakj
they have no resource but in begging alms.

The third species of Kurumeru is generally known under the name
of KallonBantrUj or Robbers ; and indeed those who compose this cast
are generally thieves or sharpers, by profession and right of birth. • The
distinction of expertness iii filching belongs to this tribe ; the individuals
of which it consists having been trained to knavery from their infancy.
They are instructed in no other learning, and the only art they commu-
nicate to their children is that of stealing adroitly ; unless we except
that of being prepared with a round lie, and with a determined resolu-
tion to endure every sort of torture rather than to confess the robberies
which are laid to their charge.

3 o

466 INFERIOR CASTS. •

Far from being ashamed of their infamous profession, they openly
glory in it ; and when they have nothing to fear, they publicly boast,
with the greatest self-complacency, of the dextrous robberies they have
committed, at various times, during their career. Some who have been
caught and wounded in the act, or have had their nose and ears,
or perhaps their hand, cut off for the offence, exhibit their loss with
ostentation, as a mark of their intrepidity ; and these are the men who
are generally chosen to be the chiefs of the cast.

It is commonly in the dead of the night that they commit their de-
predations. Then they enter the villages silently, leaving sentinels at
the avenues, while others seek out the houses that may be attacked with
the least danger of detection, and so make good their entry and pillage
thênu This they effect^ without attempting to force open the door,
which would be a noisy operation ; but by quietly cutting through the
mud wall with a sharp instrument, so as to make an opening sufficiently
large to pass through. The Kallabantru are so expert in this species
of robbery, that, in les&than half an hour, they will carry off a rich lading
of plunder, without being heard or suspected till day-light discloses the
villainy.

In the countries that are under the yoke of Moorish Princes, these
thieves are authorized by the Government ; who give them a licence to
pob, in consideration of a certain tribute which they require for the pri-
vilege, or on condition of their paying to the public receiver one half of
the booty they acquire. But as, in a civilized country, for the credit of
the police, such a contract must be kept secret ; so the culprit can seek
no redress from the magistrate for the wounds and mutilations which he
is exposed to, when he happens to be surprized. On the other hand,
the magistrate must shield from punishment the rogues with whom they
are in partnership.

The Princes have always in their service a great number of Kallaban-
tru, whom they employ in their calling ; which is that of plundering
for their master's profit. The last Musalman Prince who reigned in the
Mysore had a regular battalion of them on service, in time of war ; not
for the purpose of fighting in the field, but to prowl and infest the
enemy's camp in the night, stealing away the horses and other necesr-

INFfiftlÇf^ CASTS. 4^

sariea çf the officers, spiking the çannon, and acting as spies. They
were rç(warded in proportion to the dexterity they displayed in these
achievements; and in time of peace they were dispatched into the
various states of neighbouring Princfds» to rob, for the benefit of their
master ; besides discharging their ordinary duty of spies.

The Polygars, who are chiefs of particular districts, have in their pay
several of these rascals, who are sent from place to place to steal, or to
do any other similar service, in the manner of the Kalabantru.

In the provinces where they are tolerated by the Government, the
poor inhabitantS5 having no other means of escaping from pillage, pay
them a yearly subsidy of a quarter of f^ rupee and a fowl for each
house ; the chief of the gang agreeing to take them under his proteo*
tion, and to be answerable for every robbery that shall be committed.

The cast of Kalabantru is spread over all the Mysore ; where they ate
also infested with another sort, under the name of Kanofi, who are
equally formidable»

But, of all the vagrant casts, the best known, and also the most de^
tested, is that of the Lambadis or Sukater^. Their origin is not well
understood, as they are different in manners, customs, and language,
from all the other casts of Hindus. They appear to have more affinity
with the Mahrattas than any other nation ; and, I believe, it is from tfaa^
marauding race that we must trace their descent. It is certain that it
is in their armies that they are trained to that course of pillage and
rapine which has obliterated all notions of property, when they feel
themselves the strongest, or when they are out of the reach of justice.
At the same time, the exemplary punishments which the police has in-
flicted on them in several places, of late, has made them somewhat more
circumspect, and they no longer dare to plunder openly. But, woe to
the traveller whom they meet alone in a solitary place, especially if they
think him a prize.

Their rendezvous, in tiines of war, is with some army ; and generally
with the most undisciplined one, about which they swarm in great
crowds^ to take advantage of the disorder and confusion which they
expect to find, and which serve as a cloak to their depredations. They
make theniselves useful by supplying tfie markets with provisions»

3o 2

468 INFERIOR CASTS.

which they have foraged in all quarters.. And they also make a trade
of lending out to the side that will best pay them their numerous herds
of bullocks to carry necessaries for the supply of the armies. It was
thus that, in the last war with the Sultan of the Mysore, the Eng-
lish took into their pay many thousands of them for transporting their
provisions. However, they had soon reason to repent their connection
with such faithless wretches, devoid of all honour ^.nd discipline, when
they saw them laying waste the country over which they passed, and
causing more damage than the whole army of the enemy would have
done. The frequent punishments inflicted on their chiefs had no effect
on that horde of robbers, whom the scent of plunder allured more
powerfully than even their extravagant perquisites and hire.

In times of peace, the3e banditti return to their trade in com, which
they carry from one place to another. Their rude and uncultivated
manners, with their coarse and deformed fpatures, both in the men and
the women, at once betray the character and disposition of their minds.
In all parts of India they have justly become the objects of the watch-
fulness and suspicion of the police ; for, in no circumstances, can any
reliance be placed on them.

Their women are every where held to be most dissolute. Their
lewdness has almost universally passed into a proverb ; and it is even
said that they often go out in a body and compel such men as they
meet to gratify their wishes.

The Lambadis or Sukaters form a cast entirely distinct from the rest
of the Hindus, with whom they have but very little intercourse ; being
wholly different from them in religion, language, manners, and customs.
All other casts treat them with distant and thorough contempt.

There is yet another tribe of vagrants, who are also a separate sect,
and live universally despised. They are the class of mountebanks,
buffoons, posture-makers, tumblers, dancers, and the like j who form
various parties, to exhibit their several arts and tricks, in all places where
admirers and dupes are to be found. The most dissolute body is that
of the Dumbars or Dumbaru. It is not surprizing that, in a country
where the love of all that approaches to the marvellous reigns with un-
bounded sway, such sorts of jugglers should prevail. Nevertheless, the

INFERIOR CASTS. 4g9

csists who follow these professions are vilified, and universally looked
down upon, though the practitioners are, at the same time, considered
as expert magicians, initiated in all occult and necromantic arts, who
are to be feared as well as distrusted. They may be compared, indeed,
to the mountebank order in Europe ; but they are more universally and
cordially despised. Yet I have seen them perform tricks and feats
which put them at least on a level with their brethren in Europe.

The most usual exhibition is that of the keepers of serpents, who
have them taught to dance to the soimd of a kind of flute. They pet**
form various tricks with them ; which, though apparently terrible, are
not very dangerous, as they always take the precaution to deprive them
of their fangs, and to extract the vesicle in which the venom is con-
tained. They are believed to have the power of charming those dan-
gerous reptiles, and of commanding them to approach and surrender
themselves, at the sound of their flute. The same art appears to have
been laid claim to in other ancient nations, as appears from the allegory of
the prophet, where he compares the obstinacy of an obdurate sinner to a
serpent that shuts its ear against the voice of the charmer *. Without
dwelling on the literal accuracy of this striking passage of Holy Writ,!
may confidently assert, that the skill which the pretenders to enchant-
ment, in India, claim in this particular, is rank imposture. The trick is
to put a snake, which they had tamed aind accustomed to their music,
into some remote place, and they manage it so, that, in appearing to
go casually in that direction, and beginning to play, the snake comes
forward at the accustomed sound. When they enter into an agreement
with any simpleton, who fancies that his house is infested with serpents»
a notion which they sometimes contrive to infuse into his brain, they
artfully introduce into some crevice of the house one of their tame
snakes, which comes up to its master, as soon as it hears his flute. The
potent enchanter instantly whips it up into his pannier, takes his

* ** Their poison is like the poise» of a serpent; they are like the deaf adder that stop-
^* peth her ear ; which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.''
Psalm Iviii. 4,

" For behold I will send serpents, cockatrices among you, which will not be charmed."
Jerem. viii. 17« ..,..-

470 INFERIOR CASTS.

fee, and gravely presents himself at the next house, to renew his otSoë
of assistance to similar dupes.

Another race of vagrants live at the public expence, by exhibiting »
kind of comedies, or rather farces, of the indecent kind both in the cha^.
racters and the dialogue. They likewise exhibit puppet shews, mixed
with gross obscenity and absurdity, but well adapted to the stupid muk
titude that gaze and admiré. They know they could not gain the at-
tention, far less the laugh of such people, without sacrificing decency»
modesty, and common sense.

In the Mysore and the Telinga country, there is another distinct cast
of wanderers, more peaceable and innocent than any of the former;
They are called Pakanatt/y and speak the Telinga. They were originally
natives of that country, and were employed in agriculture. They be-
longed to the tribe of Goalaru or shepherds. It is now a hundred
and fifty years since they first took up their present vagrant and wan-
dering life ; to which they are grown so much accustomed, that it would
be impossible to reclaim them to any fixed or sedentary habits. The
cause of their detaching themselves originally firom society arose from
some severe treatment which the governor of the province where
they lived was going to inflict upon some of their favourite chiefs.
To avert this insult, and to be revenged against their rulers, they took
the resolution of quitting their villages and abandoning their agricul-
tural labours ; and they have never since entertained a thought of re-
suming their ancient course of life. They sojourn in the open fields,
under small tents of bamboo, and wander from place to place, as hu-
mour dictates.

Some of their chiefe, with whom I have conversed, have informed
me, that they amount in all to seven or eight thousand individuals. Part
wander in the Telinga country and part in Kanara. They are divided
into different tribes, the heads of which assemble, from time to time,
to decide any disputes that may have arisen, and to watch over the
general good order of the cast. They are under an exceedingly good
police ; and, though always roving in bands through the country, they
maintain a great respect for property, and no instance of pillage is
ever heard of among them.

INFERIOR CASTS. 47I

They all live in the most wretched condition. The wealthiest among
them have nothing beyond a few buffaloes or cows, whose milk they
sell. They are mostly all herbarists ; and wherever they roam, they are
careful to collect the various plants and roots which serve for medical
purposes, or which are used in dying, or as physic for horses and cows.
They sell these simples to the dealers in spices ; and by this traffic
they partly maintain themselves, and make up for what is wanting by
hunting, fishing, or begging.

Among the vices which are the reproach of the various wandering
tribes, intemperance, and the want of delicacy in the choice of food, are
chiefly complained of; and these are, at the same time, the most odious
and degrading of any, in the eyes of the other casts. Drunkenness per-
vades them all ; the material of which is the Toddy, or juice of the
palm ; to which men and women are equally addicted.

As to food, every thing is alike to them ; and, with the exception of
the flesh of the cow, they put up with any other sort of victuals, how-
ever offensive. Tver's flesh, that of the fox, the cat, the crocodile, the
serpent, lizard, crow, and of many other creatures, equally revolting to
the generality of Hindus, constitute the principal nourishment of all
the different wandering hordes we have described.

Each cast of vagrants forms a little republic in itself, governed by its
own laws and usages. They have but little to do with social duties, or
even with authority. Wandering continually from place to place, they
pay no tribute ; and, being scarcely possessed of any thing, they have
no occasion for the protection of the Prince to enable them to live un*-
molested: neither do they importune the magistrate for justice or
favour. Each little community has chiefs of its own, elected or de-
posed by a majority of voices ; and who, as long as their authority
continues, are invested with power to enforce their rules, to inflict
punishment and fines on those who violate them, and to terminate all
disputes that arise.

The whole of these wanderers, in going from place to place, take with
them not only their wicker tents and all their goods, which indeed are
no great matter, but also the provisions necessary for their subsistence
during several days, and the utensils requisite for preparing and cooking-
their food. When they have beasts of burden, they load them with

472 INFERIOR CASTS.

part of their furniture ; but, when without that accommodation, they
are sometimes in great straits. I have frequently seen poor creatures,
of this kind, carrying on their heads and shoulders every thing they
possessed in the world, with what was necessary for their present sub-
sistence. The husband took the burden of the tent, the provisions,
and some earthen vessels for boiling them ; while the wife, with half of
her body left bare, in order to spare a part of her garment to wrap the
child that dangled at her back, carried on her head the little millstone
which they use for grinding the corn that makes a part of their food,
and held, under one arm, the pestle for pounding the rice, and the mor*
tar under the other. Such is the touching spectacle I have often seen,
with feelings of tender sympathy and compassion ; and such is the kind
of existence that thousands of Hindus are doomed to abide ; and which
they endure without a murmur, and without envying those who enjoy
the real blessings of life. And never does it come into their thoughts
to improve their condition, by entering into the bosom of society, and
engaging in some employment more reputable and %asy.

There are still a great many other detached casts in the southern
parts of India besides those we have mentioned ; all living in a state of
degradation and contempt. Amongst others, there is that of the iTti*
rumbars or Kurubaru. The baseness of their nature and their total
want of instruction seem to justify the detestation in which they are
held by the superior casts of Sudras. Their occupation, is that of Shep-
herds ; but they are not to be confounded with the cast of Herdsmen
called Ideyirs and Goalam, who are one of the highest casts among
the Sudras, and have the cows and goats under their care, while the
others are confined entirely to sheep, of which they have considerable
flocks. The meanness of their employment seems to spread its influ-
ence over their manners. Being confined to the society of their woolly
charge, they seem to have contracted the stupid nature of the animal ;
and, from the rudeness of their nature, they are as much beneath the
other casts of Hindus, as the sheep, by their simplicity and imperfect
instinct, are beneath the other quadrupeds. The stupidity of the Ku-
rubarus is become proverbial ; and when a person of another cast does
any thing thoughtless and foolish, he is said to be as stupid as a Kuni-

INFERIOR CASTS. 473

baru. This sect prevails in the countries of Canara» TalugUi and Tamtil,
but chiefly in the first, from which it appears to have originated, and
where they are still found in great numbers in every district

I have already mentioned the casts of Sewages met with in the forestr
and on the mountains of the southern parts of the peninsula. Thej
are divided into various tribes, each of which is subdivided into separate
hordes* They seldom quit their haunts, and are not often visited there,
on account of the dread they are held in as reputed sorcerers or magi-
dans, whose maKce would occasion disease or misfortune. And, indeed,
when any of the neighbouring casts are affected with any calamity
which they suspect to have proceeded fi*om their machinations, they
fall upon them with severity, and sometimes revenge themselves by
their death.

Many of these savages spare themselves the trouble of building
houses ; although, by living in thé midst of a wood, they might have
abundant materials. In the rainy season, they shelter themselves in
caverns, hollow trees, and clefts of the rocks ; and, in fine weather, they
keep the open fields. In the night, every horde collects in a body ;
and each lights large fires, all around, to keep them warm and to scare
the wild beasts, while they sleep in the centre, iii a promiscuous he^.
They are almost entirely naked. The women wear nothing to conceal
their nakedness but some leaves of trees stitched together, and bound
round their waists.

They think it too great a hardship to perform' agricultural labour ;
and therefore they never engage in it but when urged by extreme necea»
sity. Knowing nothing beyond the absolute demands of hunger, they
find enough in their forests to assuage it Roots and other spontane-
ous productions of nature ; reptiles, and animals which they entrap in
snares or kill in the chace ; and honey, which they find in abundance
within the chinks of the rocks, or on the trees, among the branches of
which they skip with the agility of monkeys, afford all that is necessary
to appease the cravings of nature.

More stupid than the Afirican savage, he of India is ignorant even of
tiiie use of the bo w.

3 p

474 INFERIOR CASTS.

Tlie inhabitants of the plains apply to them, when they have occasion
fox timber for building their houses, or foP any other works of magni*
tude ; and, for a matter of small value, âuch as some copper rings, a few
glass beads, or a little com, the savages will cut them as much wood as
they want.

They are always considered, by the other inhabitants, to have the
power, through the means of incantation and magic, to charm the tigers,
the elephants, and the venomous reptiles which share with them in
their forests, so that they have nothing to fear from their attacks.

They train up their children from their earliest infancy, to the hard
life that nature seems to have intended for them. The day after lying-
in, the woman is obliged to scour the woods for food. Before setting
out, she suckles the new-bom infant, digs a little trench in the ground
for a cradle, where she deposits the naked babe, upon the bare earth ;
and, trusting to the care of Providence, goes with her husband and the
rest of the family, in quest of wherewithal to supply their wants for the
day. This is not quickly obtained ; and it is evening before they re-
turn. From three days old they accustom the child to solid food;
imd, in order to inure it betimes to the rigour of the seasons, they wash
it every day in dew collected from the plants ; and until the infant is
able to accompany or follow the mother, it remains in this manner, from
morning to night, in the recesses of the wood, exposed to the rain, the
sun, and all the inclemency of the weather, stretched out uncovered in
the little tomb, which is its only cradle.

It appears that the only religion of these savages consists in the
worship of the Bhuta or Demons, which they exclusively adore, pay-
ing no acknowledgment to the divinities of the nation.

These are, in the greatest number, in the forests of Malabar ; but
there is also a different species of savages in various parts of the
Camatic, roaming in the woods of that province, and known under
the name of Irulirs, and sometimes of Soligaru. Like the Kurubaru^
they lead a savage life, and have scarcely any communication with the
more polished people of the plain. Their principal means of living
are roots and honey, which they find in the woods. They barter the
last, and its wax, with the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, for such

INFERIOR CA3TS. 475

articles as they have to spare. In other particuliBurs they scarcely differ
in any thing from the preceding class, and are equally dreaded for
enchantments and sorcery by their jealous neighbours of the plains.

The savage cast of Malay Kvdiaru has been already noticed.
Though living in the woods, they have made some approach to the
social state. Their occupation is to extract the juice or Kailu firom
the palm trees, selling a part and drinking the remainder. It is the
women that ascend the trees ; and they do it with great agility. Th^
husbands go to market with the liquon

'Xliis tribe is hardly foimd beyond the district of Curga. Here there
is n^so another tribe, known by the appellation of Yerwoaru. It consists
of several hordes dispersed through the woods. Being without the
resources for subsistence which the others possess, they are compelled
to provide for their wants by making themselves useful in society;
For this purpose they quit their cabins, and repair to the habitations
o£ their more polished neighbours ; who, for a small allowance of
grain, obtain the services of the savages in the most toilsome labours
of husbandry. But, such is their improvidence and indolence, that 4^
long as a single morsel of rice remains in their huts, they obstinately
refuse to renew their labour. Their employers, however, are obliged
to put up with their humour, because they cannot otherwise exempt
themselves from drudgery ; and, if they should offend a single indi.»
vidual amongst them, by ill treatment, or in any other way, the whole
horde would resent the affront, and, in a body, desert their accustomed
abodes for the hidden recesses of the forests. There they would
sulkily remain, till their superiors, being at a loss for their assistance5
were reduced to the necessity of making the first advances, by an
apology for the injury, or such indemnification as the savages might
require.

All the various savage tribes, having much difficulty in procuring
the absolute necessaries of life, have no means whatever of attaining
to the petty luxuries which are within, the reach of the lowest orders
of the other casts. Betel, tobacco, oil for rubbing the head and body,

3f 2

él6

INFERIOR CASTS.

-and some other indulgences which habit has rendered necessary to the
t)rdinary Hindus, are quite unknown to the savage tribes, and do not
even seem to be coveted by them. They think it quite sufficient to be
favoured by strangers with a little salt and pepper to season the roots
and insipid vegetables which form their principal nourishment.

All these savages are of an inoffensive and quiet disposition. The
sight even of a stranger is enough to put a whole horde of them to
-fl^ht. Their indolent and lazy habits xesult from the climate. Far
different from the Cannibals of America, or those which people an
extensive region of Africa, they know not the meaning of war j and
they seem to be ignorant of the practice of repaying evil with eviL
Buried in the thick forests where they were bom, or in the deep
grottoes of the rocks which they inhabit, there is nothing they are
more afraid of than the approach or appearance of a civilized man ;
Iffiid so far from env3dng him the boasted happiness of social life, they
shun all intercourse with him, out of fear that he designs to strip them
of their independence and liberty, and reduce them to the bondage
pf society.

, They preserve, however, some of the leading prejudices of their
countrymen. They never eat cows flesh. They have the same notions
concerning cleanness and impurity, and they observe, in the principal
occurrences of life, several other rules which are in common use in the
country.

(477 )

CHAP. VIL

OF THE UETEMPSTCBOSIS. THE HINDUS THE INVENT0B8 OF THE DOCTBIKE.
CAUSES AND NUMBER OF THE TRANSMIGRATIONS. OF THE PAINS OF HELL
AND THEIR DURATION. ABODES OF BLISS.

i^EVERAL writers, both ancient and modem, have been of opinion
that Pythagoras was the author of the system of the Metempsychosis,
called by the Hindus Purwa Janma^ or regeneration, and that it was
communicated by that philosopher to the sages of India, when he visited
their country. But all who are acquainted with the spirit and edu-
cation of the Brfihmans, both ancient and modern, will be easily
satisfied of the contrary, and will be convinced that, so far from re-
ceiving lessons from Pythagoras, they were his masters in this respect.
The desire of learning something new, and of attaining perfecticm in
the sciences, induced that philosopher to penetrate into every country
where they had begun to flourish in those remote ages ; and, having
heard of the renown of the philosophers of India, which long after-
wards spread into Europe, he undertook a long voyage to see them,
and to profit by their doctrines.

What makes it more probable that it was firom them that he derived
his system of the transmigration of the soul of one body into another,
is that he did not publish it till after his return ft*om India; and no
circumstance of his life shews that he had any notion of it before his
journey.

Is it at all to be imagined that the Brahmans would consent to
borrow a system so abstracted and extraordinary fi*om a stranger?
Those who know their pride and arrogant presumption, will find great
difficulty in believing it Never can a Brahman be persuaded that
sciences, which he is ignorant of, can be lodged m the mind of a

478 THE MBTEBCPSTCIIOSIS.

man* of any other cast, far less of a foreigner; and never would he
lend an ear to any individual who should pretend to be acquainted
with any new science or useful discovery, of which he himself would
not assume to be the inventon

We have before had occasion to remark, that this cast of persons
has been regarded, in all times, as the universal and exclusivis heir of
evpry art and science. They are all educated in the belief that no man
can possibly know what they are ignorant of Such is the fundamental
principle in which they have been nurtured, in ancient and modem
times : a principle which their long intercourse with nations far beycmd
them in every branch of science has never been able to shake.

Their books, which appear to be more ancient than Pythagoras, are
filled with the doctrine of the. Purwa Janma or Metempsychosis, and
treat of it as a system coeval with their most ancient institutions,, civil
and religious, and established beyond all controversy.

But, whoever he was that was the original inventor of that absurd
system, which some modem authors have called sublime, Greece and
the other countries into which it was introduced by Pythagoras and his
disciples, do not appear to have derived much benefit firom the disco-
Tery. It appears wonderful that Empedocles, Socrates, and Plato,
philosophers otherwise so enlightened, should have adopted it, without
examination. Aristotle and the whole Peripatetic school justly rejected
it. But it continues to this day to be the universal belief of every
Hindu.

Pythagoras drew from it a very natural inference, when he asserted
that they ought to abstain from eating the flesh of any living creature,
lest the son might possibly feed on the body of his father, whose soul
had, peradventure, passed into the substance of a fowl or sheep ; so
that the horrid feast of Thyestes might be often repeated. Several of
the disciples of that philosopher, to act consistently with his doctrines,
confined themselves to live entirely upon liquids. They even rejected
the bean from their meals, as the Brahmans have rejected the onion and
some other simple productions of the same nature. But these rigorous
precepts of the strict disciples of the Greek philosopher were less foL»

THB MËTfflAFSTÇHOSIS. 479

lowed than their doctrines, and the people never relinquished the use
of flesh.

The Hindu philosophers, in all probability, gave birth to this notion
of Pythagoras, when he adopted their system of the Purwa Janma, He
saw their abhorrence of the murder of animals. He likewise saw that
the Brahmans and all the cultivated people of India most religiously
abstained from eating whatsoever had 'been alive ; and his conclusion
would naturally be that their extreme abstinence in that respect must
have arisen from the apprehension they were in of slaying an ancestor,
perhaps, in the creatiure which was served up for their food.

If this was the inference which that philosopher drew from the custom
of the Hindus, and their mode of living, I have no difficulty in saying
it was a false one. The abstinence from meat amongst the Hindus, is
founded upon two principles, v^ry different from those which were
assumed by the Pythagoreans ; and the practice appears to be foreign to
£he doctrine of Metempsychosis. The first principle is the dread of
being defiled by the use of animal nutriment ; and the second is the
abhorrence of the murder which must have been committed before they
could enjoy such a feast. In consequence of the former principle, of
shunning all defilement, the nobler part of the nation is restricted to
the use of liquids only, and of the simple productions of nature, for
their aliment. The Brahmans could use nothing that proceeded fiom
an animal, with the exception of milk, which constituted the most sub-
stantial and delicious portion of their food. The horror which a dead
body generally inspires ; the fetid stench which it exhales, from the
moment almost of dissolution, are widely different from the decay of
vegetables, which rot without putridity. The revolting idea of being
obliged to gratify the appetite by loading the table with carcasses of
slaughtered animals, and a thousand other considerations not less rea-
sonable, concerning the nature of what is pvire and what is impure, have
determined the opinions of the Hindus on this subject. They have
been instilled by education, and so deeply rooted in the mind, that those
who have once imbibed the prejudice have not even a thought of ever
departing from it, under any circumstances that can befal them
through life.

4S0 ^™B lŒTBMPSTCHOSIS.

The second motive which influenced their conduct9 m this particular,^
was the dread an4 horror of murder, which it Was necessary to commit
aa often as they might have recourse to this diet; a dread, which by
many is carried so far, as even to induce them to spare the most vile and
troublesome insects ; such as never fail to disturb the repose of men and
brutes. This is more congruous and consistent than the conduct of the
disciples of Pythagoras. The Hindus believe that no diflerence exists
between the souls of men and of animals ; and that the sins of human
beings in one generation are the cause of their being degraded to the
condition of a beast in another. Hence they conclude, that it is equally
wicked to slay a beast or an insect as to murder one of their own
species..

But, with the exception of theBrahmans, theKshatriya and the Vaisya,
the greater number of the Sudras kill animals and eat their flesh. They
have amongst them butchers and hunters by profession. The cast of
the J?atV/er« or Baideru^ who generally live in the mountains and forests,
have scarcely any other occupation than the chace. I have read some-
where, in an Indian book, that one of the ancient penitents, who were
almost entirely Brahmans, and who never tasted of any creature that
* bad lived, amused his leisure with the diversion of hunting serpents,
which were common in the woods where he exercised his penitence,
and killed all he could find ; although this reptile is particularly rever-
enced by the Hindus, and placed in the number of such as the vulgar
adores. But this is not the only particular in which the Hindu paganism
is found to be inconsistent with itself.

, The Pythagoreans were neither so steady nor so consistent as the
Hindus, in their opinions on the same subject ; for they reproach them
for rendering the transmigration of souls common and promiscuous
amongst all living creatures; for thus, they say, the soul of a King
might pass into the body of an ape, and of a Queen into that of a grass-
hopper. In order to escape the ridicule to which such a system was
exposed, certain philosophers of that sect, such as Plotinus and Porphjrry,
endeavoured, though too late, to limit the transmigration of the souls
of men to human bodies, and those of brutes to their own species ; and
they would fain have passed these inventions for the doctrine of the ori-

THE METEMPSYCHOSIS. 4g}

gînàl founders of their sect. But the testimony of all the ancient writers
is too direct and conclusive, on this topic, to admit of any faith being
paid to the tardy retractation of their disciples.

The Hindus recognize two principal causes of the transmigration of

souls ; and their system of Furwa Janma seems to have been invented to
justify, under a gross allegory, the administration of Providence in dis-
pensing rewards and punishments. The first cause which they assign
is common to them with the Pythagoreans. Transgression must be
punished, and virtue rewarded. This does not take place in the
present life ; for we often see vice triumphant, and virtue beaten
down. As a remedy for this great irregularity, the Gods, who hold in
their hands the destinies of men, have decreed that he who, during his
life, was a wicked man, a robber or homicide, shall, in requital of his-
crimes, be r^enerated after his present life, and become a Pariah, some
voracious animal, or a creeping insect, or be bom blind or crooked; so
that, according to this doctrine, lowness of birth or bodily defects, are an
incontestable proof of the perverseness that reigned in a preceding exist-
ence. On the contrary, to have been born beautiful, handsome, rich»
powerful, a Brahman, or even a cow ; eVery circumstance of that nature,
is a clear proof of the pure and virtuous life which had distinguished the
jR>rtunate object in a preceding generation. Such is the feeling of all
the people of India, and, as it appears, of all the Asiatics ; and such was
very nearly th^t of the early Pythagoreans.

But, independently of this first cause of transmigrations, the Hinduif
assign another, which is peculiar to them. As their notions concern^
ing defilement and purity must be combined with every thing else, they
pretend that a soul after death, must retain something of the disposi-
tions and stains which it had contracted in a preceding generation, just
as an earthen vessel retains for a long time the odour of some strong
liquor which was put into it when new. They strengthen this compari-
son by the instance of a woman, who had been a fish in h6r preceding
generation ; and who, though, in the present, a real woman, still r^
tained the fishy odour. It is necessary, therefore, that a long succe»*
sion of generations shall cleanse the impurities of the past ; which must

4g^ THE METEMPSYCHOSIS.

be followed by a vast number more, if, in place of purifying themselves
from ancient stains, they contract new ones, by a dissolute life.

When the Hindus are interrogated on the number of these transnii-
grations which must take effect, and from what epoch they commence ;
they answer, that they take their beginning from the period when the
earth began to be populous, and vice had begun to reign in it As to
their duration, it has been, and will continue to be, commensurate
with the various Yugas or ages of the world. As to the number of
transmigrations, the poets have exceedingly exaggerated or extenuated
them, according as their extravagant imagination impelled. But the
most rational of their philosophers agree that the number cannot be
fixed, as it must be proportioned to the measure of virtue or vice pre-
dominant in each individual, which must require a greater or less suo-
cession of new births before arriving at that sublime state of purity
which at last puts a period to this transition of the soul from body to
body, and inseparably reunites it to the great Being, to Para-Brahma.

On this point, the philosophers of India appear to me to be wiser
and less empirical than the divine Plato himself; since that great phi-
losopher scruples not to determine the period for which a soul shall
continue to pass from one body to another. He fixes it at three thousand
years for some, and at ten thousand for others. He likewise ventures
to pronounce upon the sort of transmigration which some famous indi-
viduals have sustained. Thus the soul of Agamemnon he holds to have
passed . into an eagle, and that of Thersites into the body of an ape ;
just as if, by the multiplication of lies, he could render his system of
the Metempsychosis more probable or less absurd.

One point in which the Hindu system may probably appear defec-
tive and inferior to that of the Greeks, is that of consciousness. How
can it happen, it is asked, that one should have no remembrance of
. what passed in the preceding generation ? The Grecian poets had fabled
the river Lèthe, whose waters had the power of creating an oblivion
of all that had been done or learned before death. Some chosen souls,
however, were exempted from the general rule, and preserved distinctly
the metaory of the sort of life which they formerly passed. Of this
number was Pythagoras himself, who in order to enhance the credit of

HELL.

483

his new system, had the hardiness to declare that he was originally
JSthalides, the reputed son of Mercury ; afterwards £uphorbus, who
was wounded by Menelaus at the siege of Troy ; then Hermotymus ;
and then a fisherman of Delos, called Pyrrhus ; and last of all Pythar-
goras. ..

The Hindus confer Ûiat privilege upon but a very small numbe^r of
virtuous souls ; byt, as to the bulk of mankind, they affirm that the
mere circumstance of regeneration is sufficient to obliterate all memory
of what they formerly saw, and all knowledge of former events. A
child under two years of age, they observe, cannot remember to day
what he did yesterday ; and much less likely is it that he should recol-*
lect what took place before his new birth. Is this explanation less satis-
factory than that of the river Lethe ?

Of Hell

The Purwa Janma or Metempsychosis, being designed perhaps, as a
vindication of the system of Providence, by establishing a balance be-
tween virtue and vice, in rewarding the one and piunishing the other,
did not require the addition of places of torment and felicity after
death. As far as punishment was concerned, it was sufficient to renew
for several times an evil regeneration to the wicked, while the righteous
were, with less delay, reunited to the Divinity, that universal soul of
the world from which they were originally detached. But no civilized
nation has ever held these abstract and general notions in religion ; the
offspring of some exalted and enthusiastic spirits. But there are ftm-
damental truths, so deeply engraven on the heart of man by the Author
of his being, that neither the vain sophistry of a false philosophy, nor
the madness of an overbearing idolatry, shall ever succeed in wholly
obliterating thcir impression.

The Hindus, above all nations, strictly preserved, in the midst of
the thick darkness of a gross idolatry, the remembrance of the prin-
cipal truths of natural religion, as they existed amongst the earliest
men ; and of those, iii particular, which relate to the rewards smd pu-
nishments reserved for mankind in another life.

3q 2

^g^ HELL.

These precious doctrines, with many others not less important, were
•unfortunatdy corrupted and disfigured by innumerable fables such as this
of the metempsychosis. The Hindus also invented a king of the infernal
regions, who had under his orders judges of the dead, and messengers
to execute their awards. ^

In this infernal kingdom, which they call "Naraka and sometimes
Patalaj they acknowledge a God or sovereign Judge, to whom they
give the name of Yama. This chief of the council of hell consults his
records formed by the agency of scribes and others under his authority,
who keep an ^exact account of all the good and all the evil which take
place on the earth. They lay their report before their master, who de-
cides on each case ; and the punishment, proportioned to the sins of
the dead, immediately follows. Executioners, cruel and inexorable, ^re
appointed to torment the guilty, without respite, by means of steel, of fire,
and a thousand other way9, which their cruelty suggests. In the detail
which the Hindu books give of these varied punishments of hell, I have
been struck with one as somewhat remarkable, and not less disgusting.
It is related that some very guilty souls are plunged several times a day
into a lake of mucus. I should not have so much marvelled if they had
chosen to drench the culprits in a lake of spittle ; for that is the fluid
on which the Hindu looks more aghast than on any other excrement or
secretion of the body.

But Yama is not the only god that is continually on the watch to seize
upon the souls of mortals when they die. Other deities, and above all
Siva and Vishnu, have likewise their invisible emissaries on earth, who
know the votaries of their respective masters ; and the death of such
persons is ofleti the subject of a sharp contest between the imps of
those divinities and the servants of Yama ; each of them striving to
bear away the departed soul to his own master. But the attachment
to Vishnu or Siva, however moderate it may have been, is so full of
merit, that their emissaries generally have the advantage, in the dis-
putes for dominion over the souls of the dead, while those of the god
of Naraka are compelled to a disorderly retreat.

The duration of the punishment of the sinners condemned by Yama,
is in proportion to the heinousness and number of their crimes. The

ABODES OF HAPPINESS. 4g5

Hindus admit that the retribution is severe and long, but by no means
eternal. They hold that, at the end of every age, a universal revolu-
tion of all nature takes place, and a new order of things commences.
Unconnected with past times, we now live in the last age or KalU
yuga; and we have elsewhere related how much of it has elapsed,
and how long it has yet to run. When it ends, all souls shall be re-
united to the divine essence from which they were originally taken ;
and the world being dissolved, the pains of the damned shall terminate
also.

The Greeks, less presumptuous than the Hindus, did not venture to
fix the period when their iron age was to expire. Neither did they
attempt to assign limits to the thirst of Tantalus, or to predict the
moment when Ixion's wheel should stop. Probably they believed that
these torments were everlasting. Plato admitted the eternity of
punishment for some enormous crimes, for which the guilty were
hurled to Erebus. . It is not improbable that he may have had some
knowledge of the doctrines of the Holy Scriptures on this point, by
communicating with learned Jews, firom whom he might draw many
things which it is scarcely possible to discover but by means of the
Divine revelation.

The Abodes of Happiness.

The Hindus have invented several places of enjoyment for those
who have expiated their faults by repeated transmigrations and the
torments they have suffered from Yama in Naraka; but there are
four of particular celebrity. One is called Vaikuntha^ the residence
of Vishnu, into which, besides his own devotees, are admitted
those of Brahma and Siva, and all others, without distinction
of cast or person. The same report is given of the Kailasa^ or
world of Siva, into which his votaries are received after death. These
seats of happiness are represented by some Hindu writers to be vast
mountains on the north of India ; the KajQasa being a mountain of
silver.

The Swarga, another blissful residence, is situated in the air, and
has Devendra for its king, although a god of lower rank than Siva

486 ABQDES OF HAPPINESS.

and Vishnu. His paradise, notwithstanding, is more celebrated than
theirs. Music, dancing, sensual enjoyment and carnal voluptuousness
are amongst the delights which it affords. There is no reason, how-
ever, to suppose that the other places of bliss are destitute of such
enjoyments ; for the presiding deities of them all, according to the
Hindu fables, were equally celebrated for all excesses of sensual in-
dulgence, while they sojourned on this earth.

The paradise of Brahma is called Satyahka^ or the World of Truth.
It is elevated far higher than the rest, and is more pure than any.
It is watered by the Ganges ; a stream which never flowed out of that
sacred land, until the fervent and rigorous devotion of an illustrious
penitent prevailed to draw down its hallowed current upon earth.
With such an origin, we cannot wonder at the high virtues ascribed by
all true Hindus to this mighty river.

Brahmans, almost exclusively, are admitted into the Satyaloka^
when they have concluded a life truly virtuous upon earth. But they
are not irrevocably stationed there ; for neither they, nor those who
have been admitted into the other seats of beatitude, are exempt from
the necessity of being again born upon earth, and with repeated trans-
migrations. Thii^ shews how limited and imperfect their scheme of
celestial happiness must be. This renewed and protracted purification
seems contradictory to their system ; and paradise, with them, forms no
security for its possessor.

But, at last, when these repeated new births, joined to the practice
of virtue and repentance, have completely purified the soul, and have
corrected its slightest bias towards terrestrial, objects ; then, and not
till then, does it re-unite with the divine Para-Brahma, to that un-
bounded spirit, as drops of water return to the ocean, from whence
they were exhaled. This is the complete and glorious beatitude of
the Hindus ; to which they give the appellation of Moksham^ which
signifies deliverance.

Idolatry, the natural tendency of which is to corrupt all things, by
absurd and ridiculous fables, has nevertheless respected certain
fundamental truths which are engraven on the hearts of all men ; the
knowledge of which appears indispensably necessary to the stability of

HUMAN SACRIFICES. 4g7

all civilized society. The people of India, though immersed in the
thick darkness of the grossest idolatry, have yet preserved the know-
ledge of a Supreme Being, his providence, bounty, and justice ; and
of the immortality and spiritual nature of the soul. They have
admitted the necessary existence of a future life, accompanied with re-
wards and punishments. What are we to conclude, then, from their
persuasion respecting these fundamental articles of the popular faith ?
This, surely ; that the sacred truths, which are bom, 9s it were, with man,
and remain imprinted on his heart, during the whole course of his ex-
istence, can never be effaced from the memory of our species. The
Atheist and Materialist may resort to the sophisms of a false philosophy,
to obliterate the memory of truths which press them hard ; they may
exhaust the faculties of a mind perverted by the passions, and en-
deavour to interpose a cloud to prevent their light, which shines like
the sun, from reaching the hearts of other men. All their efibrts shall
be ineffectual. The vivid brightness of those eternal and unchangeable
truths shall continue to penetrate athwart the thin vapour, which the
unbeliever endeavours to raise, for the purpose of intercepting their
splendour. The testimony of conscience shall triumph over the vain
sophisms of a false philosophy ; and be relied on, while reasonable men
exist upon earth.

Of Human Sacrifices offered by the Hindus.

The history of the world teaches us that the different nations by
which it is peopled, have, in ancient times, made the sacrifice of
human victims a part of the worship which they rendered to their
divinities. Man, environed on all hands with evils, and in all cases
conscious of his own guilt, imagined, after the spirit of idolatry had
biassed his understanding, that the best means of appeasing the gods,
and of rendering them propitious, was to offer to them the noblest
and most valuable victims which the earth could afford ; thinking it
lawful, for their gratification, to pour human blood, as well as that of
beasts, upon their altars.

4gg HiMAS SACBJQBICBS.

I believe there are few nations, civilized or barbarous, in the world,
who may not be justly reproached with that horrid kind of sacrifice ;
and, though some modern authors have questioned the fact of. the
Hindus having, in common with other ancient nations, spilt the blood
of their fellows, in the sanctuaries of the deities whom they adore, and
have sought to acquit that people of so abominable a crime ; yet it
has never appeared a matter of doubt to me. On the contrary^ I
believe it is quite certain that the various nations of India have immo-
lated human victims to their gods, both in ancient and modem times.

Incontestable evidence of the fact has been given in several parts
of this work. On the subject of magic, we related that, when any
very extraordinary effect was intended, the magician could not depend
upon a certain result without oâering the sacrifice of a young girl to
the demons of mischief; and also that when people in authority come
to a magician for information on any great event, tlii8 barbarous
sacrifice is generally the prelude to the ceremonies. It appears,
therefore, that the Jiharoana^^veda^ or that book of the four sacred
Tolumes which teaches the magical art, recognises this horrible
c^emony.

In the sacrifice also of the Yajna, where the noblest victim is re-
quired to be offered, although it was more usual to take an elephant or
horse, as the most valuable of animals, for the purpose ; yet it is not
without example that a man has been chosen, as a creature still more
noble.

Indeed, we may easily convince ourselves that no nation can have less
repugnance to human sacrifices than the Hindus, if we . examine the
conduct which they exhibit at the present time. In many provinces,
the natives still can trace, and actually point out to the curious travel-
ler, the ground and situation where their Rajas sacrificed to their idols
the prisoners whom they had taken in war. The object of the awful
rite was to render their divinities more placable, and to obtain their
favourable aid in battle. I have visited some of those abominable
places, which are commonly in the mountains or other unfi^equented
parts ; as if those awful beings who delighted to see their altars moist-
ened with human gore, and their sanctuaries strewed with the carcasses,

HUMAN SAGRI]BICES. 4g9

were themselves conscious of the enormity of the crime, iand therdbre
desired to veil the horrid spectacle from*the eyes of men. In the secret
places where these detestable sacrifices were performed of old, a little
temple of mean appearance is generally found, and sometimes but a
simple niche, in which the idol is preserved, to obtain whose favour so
horrid a price is paid. The victim was immolated by decapitation, and
the head was left exposed for a time in the presence of the idol.

I have been conducted to see several of those sad charnel dens, in
various districts. One * of them is not far from Seringapatain, on the
hill near which the fort of Mysore is built ^. On the top of that moun-
tain, the pagoda may still be observed, where the Rajas were accustomed
to sacrifice their prisoners of war, or state delinquents.
^ Sometimes they were satisfied with mutilating their victims, by cut-
ting off their hands, nose, and ears ; which they offered up, firesh aiid
bloody, at the shrine of the idol, or hung them up, exposed on the gate
of the temple.

But I hâve also conversed with several old men, who have* entered
familiarly into the object and circumstances of these sacrifices, and
spoke of them to me as events of their own days, and as publicly
known.

It appears, indeed, that this practice of sacrificing prisoners taken in
war, amongst the pagan Princes, was not in opposition to our notions of
the law of nations, being reciprocal, and acknowledged 4s the legitimate
reprisals of one sovereign upon another. The people look on, without
horror, or even surprize. They still speak of it, without emotion, as a
thing just and regular, and as being fitly appropriate to the state of war«

Of late, the intercourse of the Hindus with the Europeans and
Musalmans, and the just horror which these invaders have expressed
of such atrocious «crimes, have nearly effected their total aboliticui :
nearly, I say, because I cannot answer with confidence for what may
have taken place, under' some petty native Princes, who have preserved a
precarious independence up to the present day. Neither would I like

■

* From the name of this fort, which is but of modem date, the whole province has been
called Maisur or Mysore, though very improperly. The natives usually call it the Camati^^
of which it forms the principal piart.

J^QQ HUMAN SACRIFICES.

to risk the falling into their hands, as an enemy or prisoner of war^
What I have heard of some of the petty Mahratta Princes, confirms my
suspicions that human sacrifices are not yet wholly renounced.

It cannot therefore be reasonably doubted that in India men have
been ofiered up as holocausts, both in ancient and in modern times, upon
the altars of the idols, who are supposed to be gratified by seeing dieir
shrines inundated with human blood. Still, in many places, they keep
up the remembrance of these horrible sacrifices; and, although they
are no longer permitted to shed the blood of their fellow-creatiures, in
honour of the gods, they have thought- it necessary to supply the defi-
ciency, and in some degree, at least, to satisfy the taste of several of their
deities for this horrid sacrifice, by forming a human figure of flour-
paste, or clay, which they carry into the temples, and there cut off its
head or mutilate it, in various ways, in presence of the idols.

This species of unbloody sacrifice, plainly representing the human
victims anciently offered up to the same gods of the country, is seen in
many places. In the kingdom of Tanjore there is a village called
l^rushankatam Kudi, where a solemn festival is celebrated every year,
ât which great multitudes of people assemble ; each votary bringing
with him one of those little images of dough, into the temple, dedicated
to Vishnu, and there cutting off the head in honour of that god.

This ceremony, which is annually performed with great solemnity,
was instituted in commemoration of a famous event which happened in
that village. Two virtuous persons lived there, Sirutunden and his wife
VanagataAanangaj whose faith and piety Vishnu was desirous to prove.
He appeared to them, accordingly, in a human form, and demanded no
other service of them but that of sacrificing, with their own hands, their
only and much-beloved son Siralen, and serving up his flesh for a re-
past The parents, with heroic courage, surmouhting^the sentiments and
chidings of nature, obeyed without hesitation, and submitted to the
pleasure of the god. , So illustrious an act of devotion is held worthy
of this annual commemoration, at which the sacrifice is emblematically
renewed. The same barbarous custom is preserved in many parts of
India ; and the ardour with which the people epgage in it leaves room
to suspect that they still regret the times when they would have been

HUMAN SACRIFICES. 49|

«t liberty to oflfer up to their sanguinary gods, the reality, instead of the
symbol.

If farther evidence were wanting that such sacrifices were actually in
existence among the Hindus, and that they were thought acceptable to
the divinities whom the people adore, we should find it in the Kalikc^
Purcma^ a work written under the direction of Siva. In this book,
one of the most esteemed of any, we find the most minute detail of the
mode, the ceremonies, and the advantage of sacrificing human and
other living victims. The nicest distinction is also laid down concern-
ing the species of animals, amongst the quadrupeds, birds, and fishes,
which might serve for an ofiering, and to which of the gods those sadrr-
fices were pleasing. Of these, the chief were Bakira^ Yama^ Dharma^
rajaj Kali, Marima, and several other of the infema) and malignant
demons ; most of whom are the progeny or near relations of Siva the
god of destruction.

AU these are' delighted with human sacrifice, but, above all, Kalij
a female divinity, and the most wicked of all. Such an ofiering gives
her a gleam of pleasure that endures a thousand years ; and the sacrifice
of three men together, would prolong her ecstacy for a thousand
centuries.

In the abominable book from which I am quoting, human sacrifices
are held to be a right inherent in the Princes ; to whom they are the
source of wealth, the cause of victory, and other temporal blessings ;
none of which can be enjoyed by any other man without their consent*

The work describes, at great length, the qualities which the victim,
whether human or bestial must possess.

A woman cannot be ofiered, nor a she animal : neither Brahman nor
Prince.

If it be a human victim that is ofiered, he must be fi-ee from corpo-
ral defect, and unstained with great crimes. If it be an animal, it
must have exceeded its • third year, and be without blemish or

disease.

In the same Purana, we find a description of the various instruments,
such as the kind of knife and axe, with which the several victims are to
be slain. It also contaibs a minute account of the favourable and un-

3r 2

492 HUMAN SACRIFICES.

lucky omens to be drawn from the sacrifice, according to the side on
which it falls, the manner in which the blood gushes, or the convulsions
and cries which attend its last moments.

The same volume assures us that the gods who take delight in bloody
sacrifices, are not less pleased with offerings of strong liquors and in--
ebriating drugs, such as arrack, toddy, and opium.

But though such bloody and murderous sacrifices are permitted, and
even recommended, to Princes and others of high rank, as the means
of acquiring the protection of the gods, and success in their enter-
prises ; they are nevertheless expressly prohibited to the Brahmans,
who are not allowed even to assist at them.

( 498 >

CHAP. VIIL

EXERCISE OF JUSTICE, CIVIL AND CRIMINAL.

W ITHOUT any of the judicial forms invented by the spirit of chi-
canery in Europe ; with no advocates, solicitors, or other blood suckers^
now become necessary adjuncts of a court of justice in Europe ; unen*
cumbered with the endless proceedings, the expence of which often
exceeds the value of the subject in dispute ; the Hindus determine the -
greater part of their suits of law by the arbitration of friends or of the
heads of the cast j or, in cases of the very highest importance, by re-
ference to the chiefs of the whole casts of the district assembled to dis*
, cuss the matters in controversy.

In ordinary questions, they generally apply to the chief of the place,
who takes upon himself the office of justice of the peace, and accom-
modates the matter between the parties. When he thinks it more fit
he sends them before their kindred, or arbitrators whom he appoints.
He generally follows this last course when the complainants are Brah«
mans, because persons out of. their cast are not supposed capable of
properly deciding differences between them.

When these methods have been ineffectual to reconcile the parties,
or when they refuse to submit to the decision of the arbitrators, they
must apply to the magistrates of the district, who decide the contro-
versy, without any appeal.

The authority of the Hindu Princes, as well as that of the vile emis*
saries whom they keep in the several provinces of their country, for
the purpose of harrassing and oppressing them, in their name, being
altogether despotic, and knowing no other rule but their own ar-
bitrary will} there is nothing in India that resembles a court of justice.

494 ^^^^^^ ^^^ CRIMINAL JUSTICE*

Neither is there a shadow of public right, nor any code of lawsr by
which those who administer justice may be guided.

The civil power and the judicial are generally united, and exercised
in each district by the collector or receiver of the imposts. There ib
one in every district, and he is commonly the only magistrate to be
found. His powers are very ample, and he is. accountable to the Prince
only for his actions, or to his chief ministers, or governor of the pro^
vince in which he resides. This sort of public magistrates are gene-
rally known under the name of" HavUdar or ThcLsUdar^ and the places
where they hold their public sittings, under that of Arumani. They
ore generally Brahmans ; and they have also a certain number of Brah-
man writers under them, who act as their assessors or advisers, and
assist them in forming a council for the district

This tribunal, chiefly intended for the collection of the taxes, takes
cognizance also of all affairs civil and criminal within its bounds, and
determines upon all causes. Those which are most eagerly taken up by ^
these tribunals are cases of debt, or where fines are to be levied In
aie last instance, the whole sum recovered goes into the pocket of the
judge; and when it is a question of debt to be. exacted, he withholds •
three fourths of the amount, as an indemnity to the Prince, or as a
mark of gratitude to himself for his gratuitous assistance in calling in
their money.

When the process turns on ordinary subjects, or when nothing is to
be gained by taking cognizance of it, the district judges, to saye them-
selves from trouble of that kind, remit the matter to arbitrators, whom
they appoint, and whose decisions they support, by enforcing the obe-
dience of the parties concerned.

To supply the deficiency of a code of laws, they take for their guides
certain natural maxims of justice and equity, known and acknowledged
by all reasonable men, and admitted by all civilized nations. Besides
the customs and usages peculiar to each cast, which have a different
shade in each country, it would be desirable that the rules of natural
equity should be always «trictly followed ; but, as we have had occasion
more than once to remark, the arts of collusion, practised so success-
fully in other countries, are unfortunately still more efiicacious in India»

CIVIL AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE. 495

Secret presents, prejudices, private affection for one of the parties, and
a thousand other motives of that nature, too often dictate the awards
of the juches, and even of the arbitrators. With them, the rich most
frequently gain their cause ; and powerful offenders generally find
means to make the balance, in which the Hindus poise the claims of
justice, to incline in their own favour.

Often, also, the parties may inspire an equal interest; and then
he who makes the loudest clamour, or is most fertile in abuse of his
adversary, is likely to gain his cause ; for in their courts, there is much
vociferation, and the pleaders spare no invective.

Although the Hindus recognise no code of public law, yet,- A some
of their books, very rational rules of equity are to be found, which
might form a very tolerable foundation for a right administration of
justice. Amongst these law books, there is one known by the name of
Dharma Scustra or Niti Sastra, in which are contained excellent rules
of civil and criminal jurisprudence, with decisions reported, which shew
the mode of their application. It is pity, that the tenour of this work
^ like that of all other Hindu books, should be infected with the follies
and superstitions of the country ; and, though composed on a subject
so grave and serious, should nevertheless be replete with cases both
absurd and morally. impossible. . Besides, these books are written in a
learned tongue, understood but by a small number ; and when ^ the
cause comes to be decided, they are fain to follow the principles and
rules which we have just described.

In questions relating to inheritance, debts, real property, and so
forth, the Hindus do not admit of the rule of prescription ; and
creditors, and others, having a proper claim, or their representatives,
may prosecute another party, although he and his ancestors may have
been possessed of the property in dispute for more than a century.
Causes of this kind frequently arise, and bring distress upon families
and individuals* A person in quiet possession of lands, regularly
transmitted by his ancestors, or enjoying a fortune, lawfully acquired
by the sweat of his own brow, finds himself^ arrested and attacked, by
some person, who produces a bond for a large sum lent to one of his

496 ^^^ AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE.

ancestOFS) generations before, by one of the forefathers of the claimant ;
who probably adds to his demand the interest for a hundred years.

Some mitigation, however, is occasionally found necessary, even
in the case of a debt indubitably proved, when it has become an-
tiquated, and cannot be hiforced without creating distress and ruin.
In such cases, the arbitrators . take upon themselves to moderate the
claim, and settle the business in an amicable way.

Of all the contracts entered into among the Hindus, that of tnoney
lent would appear the most iniquitous to those who are ignorant of
the risk to which the lender is exposed, aiïd the opportunities which
the bOTrower has of evading the claims of his creditor. The most
moderate interest, and that which is taken by persons of honesty and
scrupulous conscience, or what is called dharma vadij just interest,
iç the charge of twenty in the hundred on the principal sum. Many
usurers exact fifty, and some even one hundred per centum. Yet
the usurious lender rarely becomes rich by* his iniquitous trade. The
people are generally without substance j and the borrower has rarely
any thing to give in mortgage for the debt. Both principal and
interest are therefore often lost. • And if, by dint of 'legal process,
they get a judgment in their favour, they are often obliged to content
themselves with the bare sum, and to sacrifice the whole or the
greater part of the interest. The creditor has still one resource re-
maining, that if the descendants of his insolvent debtor become
wealthy his claim on them never abates.

Creditors can have no hold on the real estate of their debtors, be-
cause the Hindus have no property in the soil. The lands which
they cultivate are the domain of the Prince, who is the sole pro-
prietor. He can resume them at his pleasure, and give them to
another to cultivate. Even the huts in which they live, built of mud,
and covered With thatch, are not their own. All belongs to the
Prince ; and if a man, for any reason whatever, quits his habitation in
the village, he can by no means dispose of it to another, although it
were constructed by his own hands. The only property they possess
)8 their few cows and bufialoes ; and upon these no creditor is allowed
to lay his hands ; because, if deprived of his cattle, he would be

CIVIL AND CRIMINAL JUSTICB. 497

unable to. cultivate the land ; whence an iùjury would accrue to the
Prince.

When an action is necessary to be brought against any. one ; instead
of sending a writ by the hands of an officer, the arrest is made by
adjuring the party in the name of the Prince, or of the governor of
the province, or any other person high in authority. The instant the
complainant accosts his adversary, ^^*I arrest thee, in the name of
such an one ;" the latter must lay aside all other business, till he has
answered to the charges preferred against him, and until both partiésr
are agreed on terms for settling the matter in dispute.

In all cases, the evidence is brought forward by witnesses upon oath.
There are several ways of administering this ceremony ; but the most
usual is for the person examined to lay his hand on the head of one
of the idols, calling it to witness thé veracity of his testimony.

There is no country, however, on earth, in which the sanction of
an oath is less respected, and particularly amongst the Brahmans^
That high cast is not ashamed to encourage» falsehood, and eveo,
perjury, under certain circumstances, and to justify them openly ; as
vices no doubt, when used for ordinary purposes, but as virtuous
in the highest degree, when employed for the advantage of the
cast.

The small regard the Hindus have for an oath makes them seek^
in difficult cases, a variety of tests and ordeals, by which they afiect
to try if a suspected person is really innocent or guilty. They admit
nine or ten sorts of the ordeal ; the most of which are the same as those
anciently used in Europe, and elsewhere, under similar circumstances^
Amongst the Hindus, the most frequent appeal is to fire ; by com^.
pelling the suspected, persons to walk bare-footed over burning coab,
or to hold a bar of red hot iron a considerable while in their hands.
Sometimes it was enjoined them to plunge their hands for a time in
boiling oil. If the party under trial goes through the experiment à£
the fire, without wincing, or receiving hurt, he is declared innocent
of the crime imputed to him; but if he receives injury from the
test, he is held to be convicted on clear evidence, and receives the

3 s . : ; .

^bg CIVIL Aia> CaUIINAL' JUSIiÙB.

punishtnent applicable to the crime of which he has bees thus fbmd

guilty.

Another sort of ordeal is often resorted to, which consists in shutting
up a venomous snake in a vessel or basket, inclosing . with it a bit of
ooin^ or a trinket The suspected person is brought forward, and
blindfolded by tying a handkerchief over his eyes ; and is then
directed to put his hand into the vessel, or basket, where the serpent
is imprisoned, and to grope for the bit of money, and take it out If
the serpent permits him^ to do so with impunity, he is declaredin-
nocent ; but if he is stung, there is no longer any doubt of his guilt

In some countries and casts, the ordeal consists in forcing the
accused to swallow water, cup «ftër cup, until it discharges itself at
mouth and nose.

Persons who are really guilty of a secret crime, when called upon
to exculpate themselves, rarely abide the terrible test of the ordeal ;
but avoid it by confession. So far it is well. But a serious evil oftéb
arises out of the cruel and deceitful proof; for those who are really
innocent, being conscious of their hmocence, boldly rely on the result
ù£ the ordeal ; and, in their honest confidence, are betrayed to in-
famy and ruin.

The ordeal is not confined to magistrates and other public officers,
for procuring evidence in doubtful cases; but is universally employed
by individuals through all the country, when similar evidence is
sought with regard to the members of a family. A jealous husband
also frequently resorts to the ordeal of fire or boiling oil, to settle
his doubts of the fidelity of his spouse. The father of a family, who
has been robbed, resorts to the same mode of trying his children and
servants, to detect the perpetrator of the crime. .

This barbarous custom appears to be of old standing among the
Hindus ; and it cannot be doubted that it must have originated from
the little regard they have in all times shewn for the sanctity of an
oath, and their total indifference respecting the crime of perjury.

The administration of criminal justice among the Hindus difiers in
many respects from that of the. civil ; and the proceedings are wholly
difierent

CIVIL AND CBUiONAL JUSOnCB. 499

In certain crimes, such as that of adultery, some casts inflict the
punishment of death upon the adulteress. But, in such cases, it ijs
neither the relations nor the heads of the tribes that preside at thé
execution of the sentence. The husband alone has that authority.

But this extreme punishment, for such an ofience, is not permitted
but in countries imder the native governors.. In the provinces under
the Muhammadan yoke, a pecuniary punishment is always preferred.

Young women or widows, not belonging to the class of prostitutes^
who are convicted of leading an abandoned life, especially if pr^
nancy ensues, are condemned to pay a fine far beyond their ability;
and the seducer is still toiore severely mulcted. And, if their own
means are not sufficient, their relations must come forward to their
assistance.

Any striking violation of the usages of the cast; are punished in the
same manner. The money arising from the fines is collected by the chief
administrators of the district ; and, after payment, the culprit is genc^^
rally obliged to give an entertainment to all the heads of his cast;
which brings about a perfect reconciliation.

In each canton there is a Farmer of Offences : that is, a person who
pays to the government a fixed sum of money, in lieu of the whole of
the ordinary transgressions that shall take place within the district» in
the course of the following year. The profit and the loss being whoBy
on his own account, he takes good caie to let no misdemeanor go free.

In regard to crimes against the peace of the citizens and public
order, such as robberies, homicide, and the like ; they fall under the
cognizance of the governors of the provinces. Thieves are commonly
let go, upon restoring what they have stolen, and more particularly if
they are in good circumstances. The owner gets back a small share of
his own property, and the larger portion falls to the persons in autho-
rity, in consideration of their trouble.

But the highwaymen are often punished, by cutting off a hand, or
their nose and ears. Sometimes, they are put in irons, and condemned
to the public works.

There are scarcely any but state criminals, or traitors to their king
and country, who are capitally punished. It is but seldom that death is

3s 2

500 CIVIL AND CBXBONAL JUSTICE.

inflicted on homicides ; especially if they are rich and able to make pre-
sents to the governor of the province, who is never at a loss for a piie-
tence to palliate or excuse the crime. When committed by a person
of no consideration, it is generally thought sufficient to strip him of all
he^hast and to banish him, with his family, out of the province.

it is thus that real crimes are sometimes encouraged amongst the
Hindus; while capital punishment is reserved for imaginary guilt I
well remember an unhappy Faiiah, some years ago, whor resided in the
Tanjore while it was under its native Princes, being condemned to death
for having killed a bull that had been devoted to a Pagoda of Siva^ and
was. accustomed to make terrible ravages in the rice fields in the neigh-
bourhood.

Shooting, beheading, and hanging, are the ordinary modes of carry-»
ing the sentence of death into execution. Banishment from the coun-
try, after confiscation of their property ; the Chabukj or applicatioil of
whips or rods; rolling the body over flints or pebbles become hot by
the influence of the sun ; a large stone set upon the head or shoulders
for many hours together : piqueting, with the whole weight resting on
cine foot upon a sharp point Sometimes the feet and hands are con-
fined with bolts which are screwed till the bones are nearly dislocated,
and sometimes needles are thrust between their nails and flesh. The
acrid and corrosive juice of pepper is likewise poured into their eyes
and nostrils ; or they are compelled to lie down for several hours to-
gether in the burning heat of the sun, with their heads and bodies ex-
posed bare to its intensity.

It is not, however, so much against thieves and murderers that they em-
ploy these tortures, as against public functionaries, who have committed
malversations and embezzlement with regard to the public monies ; or
those who are possessed of wealth, which they desire to lay hold of.
For, as we have already mentioned, no man in India can be called the
master of his own wealth, however lawfully acquired. As soon as the
Princes, whether Musalman or Pagan, but particularly the former, sus-
pect that one of their subjects has acquired riches suflicient to tempt
their cupidity, they have him immediately taken up and sent to prison.
If this first step is not sufficient to extort his whole property for the

CIVIL AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE. 501

public treasury, the tortures we have mentioned are then employed.
The Muhammadans do not spare the Brahmans themselves, who have
employments under them ; and, it must be owned, that they partly
deserve this cruel treatment, for they manifest a character more stem
and unmerciful than that even of the Moors, in exacting for their own
use, the money of their poor labourers.

When imprisonment or the rack has extorted the sum that was ex-
pected from their victim,- they make him a present in return, of a turban
or piece of cloth ; or add insult to injury, by making all sorts of apolo-
gies for the injustice he has suffered. They are, forsooth, very sorry
that he allowed matters to go so far ; which he certainly might have
prevented, had he listened to their reasonable proposals at the outset
They fail not to conclude with promises of helping him to repair the
breach made in his fortune, and assuring him that they will never mo-
lest him any more, however rich he may become. But all Hindus too
well know the character of the tyrants, under whose iron yoke th^
groan, to be misled in such cases by their hypocritical professions.

None of the punishments we have mentioned, not even that of death,
brings any stain of infamy whatever on the person so punished ; far
less upon his family.

( 502 )

CHAP. IX.

OF THE HINDU FABLES.

JL HE particular taste of the Hindus for poetry and fiction has given
rise to an incredible number of Fabulous Stories which are current
among them. In their books we often meet with colognes of an in-
structive nature and well adapted to the subject in hand ; and they are
much accustomed to relate similar stories in conversation. Some of
these popular tales are well imagined and contain a good moral. Out
of a great number of this sort I have selected the following, which is
very generally known and which I have seen inserted in many of their
books ; and I have likewise heard it related in familiar conversation by
persons of good imderstanding among them.

The Tale.

*^ A Traveller, having missed his way, was overtaken by darkness
" in the midst of a thick forest. Being apprehensive that such a wood
" must naturally be the receptacle of wild beasts, he determined to
" keep out of their way by mounting into a tree. He therefore chose the
" thickest he could find, and having climbed up, he fell fast asleep, and
" so continued until the light of the morning awoke him, and admo*
" nished him that it was time to continue his journey. In preparing
" to descend, he cast his eyes downwards, and beheld, at the foot of
" the tree, a huge tiger sitting on his rump, and eagerly on the
^* watch, as if impatient for the appearance of some prey, which he
" was ready to tear in pieces and devour. Struck with terror at the
^* sight of the monster, the traveller continued for a long while im-

HINDU FABLES. 503

" moveably fixed to the spot where he sttt At length, recovering
^ himself a little, and looking all round him, he observed that the tree
^^ on which he was had many others contiguous to it, with their
^^ branches so intermixed, that he could gradually pass from one to
^< another, until at last he might get out of the. reach of danger. He
" was on the point of putting his design in execution, when, raising
" his eyes, he saw a monstrous serpent, suspended by the tail to the
** branch' immediately over him, and its head nearly iteaching his own.
** The monster appeared, indeed, to be asleep in that posture ; but the
" slightest motion might wake it and expose him to its fiiry. At the
^* sight of the extreme danger which environed him on all sides j a
" frightful serpent above, and a devouring tiger beneath, the tra^
" veller lost all courage: and being unable, from fear, to support himself
^^ longer on his legs, he was on the point of falling into the jaws of the.
"** tiger, who stood ready gaping to receive him. In awful constem-
" ation, he remained motionless ; having nothing before him but the
" image of death, and believing every moment to be his last. He had
" yielded to despair; when, once more raising his head, he saw a
*^ honev-comb upon the top of the highest branches of the tree. The
" comb distilled its sweets, drop by drop, close by the side of the tra-
" veller. He stretched forward his head, and put out his tongue, to
" catch the honey as.it fell; and, in the delicious enjoyment, thought
" no more of the awful dangers which environed him."

Besides detached fables, which are quoted in books, and often brought
forward in- conversation, the Hindus have a regular systematical collec-
tion of them called Pancha-tantra, which is circulated in every district»
and translated into all languages. They are very old,, and worthy of
deep attention. T understand they have been translated into several
European languages ; and therefore it would be superfluous to enter
into a more minute account of them here. What I have seen in some
European books are indeed but meagre extracts ; but, as they may be
better known than I am aware of, I shall add but a few words on the
subject.

In the extracts I have alluded to, they represent the author to have
been a Brahman Gymnosophist or Philosopher, called PUpay or Bidf^

504 HINDU FABLES.

^y. He is supposed to have been governor of a province of India,
and counsellor of the King of Dabûielim. In the pianuscripts, which I
have read in the original, the name of the author and of the Prince to
whom they were inscribed, differ so materially from the European
extract, that I shall be excused for giving some account, at least of the
introduction to the Pancha-tantra.

In the city of PataliptUra^ King Sudarsana reigned. He had three
adult sons, who seemed to vie with each other in coarseness of disposi^
tion and manners. The good Prince, in great affliction, at length
communicated the subject of his grief to his council. The Brahman
Somajanma, one of the number, offered his services to the King, being
willing to undertake the reformation of the three Princes, by correcting*
the errors of their former education. The King accepted his offer with
joy, and put his sons under his care. The Brahman, with great patience
and toil, succeeded at length in his enterprize, and subdued the disposi-»
tions, habits, and morals of his disciples, by frequently inculcating five
principal fables, each embracing a great number of subordinate ones,

These fables compose the Pancha-tantra, or five points of industry.
They are five little romances, which are entitled " instructive,^' although
their morality be not very sound, sometimes conducting to what is evil,
rather than teaching the means of avoiding it.

The first story explains how dextrous knaves contrive to sow divisions
between the best friends. The second teaches the advantage of true
firiends, and how they should be selected. The third explains how one
is to destroy his adversary by artifice when he cannot succeed by force.
The fourth shews how a man loses his property by misconduct ; and
the last exhibits the bad effects of thoughtlessness and precipitate
decision.

The first fable appears to teach false morality, in shewing how a
breach of the most intimate friendship may be effected, and how a faith-
fiil minister may be ruined in the good opinion of his Prince ; unless
the intention of the Brahman, in instructing his pupils how the fox un-r
dermined the faithful bull in the favour of the lion, was not rather to
caution them against the sycophants that haunt the palaces of Kings,
and by false insinuations carry poison to the royal ear, and ruin thç

HINDU fables; 505

credit of the most meritorious servants. The following is a short at>-
stract of this fable, which I think superior to the rest.

A Bull, who had been left by his owner in the midst of a forest,
became at first the friend, and afterwards the confidant, of the Lion,
who ruled there. A Fox, who had till then enjoyed the entire confi-
dence of the king of the woods, had introduced the Bull, and recom-
mended him to the Lion, very- much against the opinion and advice of
another aged Fox, his friend, who endeavoured, by many apologues, to
dissuade him fix)m so dangerous a step. These were answered, by relat-
ing other fables ; and the advice was rejected. It turned out, however,
that the old Fox was right. The upstart Bull conducted himself with
so much gentleness, candour, and good faith, that he soon acquired the
unbounded confidence of the Lion, became his first minister, and, with-
out artifice, supplanted the Fox that introduced him. Thus degraded,
• and neglected by his sovereign, after having so long directed his coun-
cils, the Fox now strove to undo his own work, and to pull down the
minister whom he had elevated to that dignity. For this purpose, he
employed every art and all sorts of duplicity, and managed so well, by
innumerable fables which he invented and recited to the Lion, every
day, that a deep distrust of the faithful animal was engendered in his
royal mind ; and being led to suspect, at last, that the Bull was about
to dethrone him and usurp the dominion of the forest^ he fell upon him
and tore him in pieces.

The author of the Pancha-tantra has taken occasion to introduce into
his work a great number of fables, in which animals are the speakers^
They are very much the same with those of Esop,. though far more
prolix. They are so constructed, that one fable, before it is finished,
gives rise to another, from one of the attending beasts, and so on to a
third. There is some ingenuity in this method ; but by thus involving
one tale within another, we are in danger of losing sight of that which
was first commenced. The author returns to it, no doubt ; but a reader
of fable does not willingly submit to the fatigue and trouble of so intri-
cate an arrangement.

In the last of the four fables which ft^Uow, the dialogue is not confined
to beasts. The principal subject of this fable is a tame Stork, which. a

S T

S06

HINDU FABLES.

firahman had carefully reared in his house. Seeing it one dajr coming
out all bloody from the apartment where his infant child slept, he
imagined it to be the blood of thç child who had been devoured by the
stork. Struck with horror at the thought, in a moment of rage, he
«lew the fowl. But what was his regret and despair, when he saw the
infant in tranquil slumber, and an enormous serpent stretched out
dead by the side of the cradle, and immersed in its own blood ? At
once he perceived that the faithful stork had saved the life of the babe,
•by flying upon the serpent when in the act of stifling it.
. It is impossible to determine .the age of these fables, no authentic
document of their era being now extant. The Hindus rank them with
their oldest productions ; and the estimation in which they are held
through all India, is a proof of their antiquity. Tliey are at least as
old as those of Esop ; who probably derived his taste from this source,
as in many passages of his writings there is a strong resemblance to *
the tancha-tantra.

But to take the question in another light : could the Brahman
Somajanma have had any knowledge of the stories of the Grecian
fabulists^ so as to have drawn his ideas from them? This will
appear rather improbable, when we consider the contempt which the
Brahmans have, in all ages, entertained for literary productions of
which they were not themselves the inventors ; and the impossibility
of their adopting them. We also know that ancient sages sometimes
travelled from Europe into India, to receive lessons of wisdom from
its philosophers and Brahmans. Some Greek philosophers undertook
this journey, long before the birth of Esop ; and at a time when their
country passed for the most cultivated, wisest, and best regulate^
country in the universe.

It U uncertain whether these fables were originally composed in
verse or prose. They were most probably in verse, as that was the
most ancient mode of composition in India. It is certain at least
that they have them in Sanscrit verse. Thence they may have been
translated into prose, for the convenience of those to whom the poetic
language was not familiar. They have passed, in thi^ way, into the
/Tamul, Canara, and Telinga languages. The style, in prose, as far

HINDU FABLES.

507

as I have seen, is extremely ornamented, and of a poetic strain ;
which would naturally be derived from the original poetry.

The five principal fables, together, form a considerable volume, on
account of the great number of interlocutory tales that are inter-
woven with them. If closely translated, they would compose two
duodecimo volumes, of three or four hundred pages each.

It is not surprising, that such a work should have an extensive
circulation among a people like the Hindus, prone to ficticm and the
marvellous. This natural disposition lays them open to the craft; of
innumerable adventurers, who make it their profession to ramble
over the whole land, 'with fables and- stories utterly devoid of reason,
or sense.

3t 2

( 508 )

CHAP. X.

HINDU TALES.

JL HE subject of this chapter will perhaps appear to some readers
unworthy of any attention. But there are also many to whom
nothing is without interest that belongs to the manners and dispositions
of an ancient people ; and for their sake I will transgress a little on
this subject

Among the tales which are current in the country, some are
written and known to many; while others are local, and can be
considered only as old women's stories, or the traditions of the
district. Both are equally devoid of sense, and fit only to amuse
children.

Of the written tales which I have seen, the three following may be
taken as a specimen, fit to amuse an idle reader, and at the same
time, as characteristical of the general taste that pervades them all.

Tale of the Four Deaf Men.

A deaf shepherd was, one day, tending his flock, near his own
village ; and though it was almost noon, his wife had not yet brought
him his breakfast. He was afraid to leave his sheep, to go in quest
of it, lest some accident should befal them. But his hunger could
not be appeased; and upon looking round, he spied a Talaiyari^ or
village hind, who had come to cut grass for his cow near a neighbouring
spring. He went to call him, though very reluctantly, because he
knew that, though those servants of the village are set as watchmen to
prevent thefl, yet they are great thieves themselves. He hailed him,

HINDU TALES. 5O9

However, and requested him just to give an eye to his flock for the
short time he should be absent, and that he would not forget him
when he returned from breakfast

But the man was as deaf as himself; and, mistaking his intentions,
he angrily asked the shepherd : ^^ What right have you to take this
" grass, which I have had the trouble to cut ? Is my cow to starve, that
" your sheep may fatten ? Go about thy business and let me alone !"
The deaf shepherd observed the repulsive gesture of the hind, which
he took for a signal of acquiescence in his request, and therefore
briskly run towards the village, fully determined to give his wife a
good lesson for her neglect. But, when he approached his house, he
saw her before the door, rolling in the pains of a violent colic, brought
on by eating over night too great a quantity of raw green peaqe.
Her sad condition, and the necessity he was under to provide break-
fast for himself, detained the shepherd longer than he wished ; while
the small confidence he had in the person with whom he left his
sheep, accelerated his return to the utmost.

Oveijoyed to see his flock peaceably feeding near the spot where
he left them, he counted them over ; and, finding that there was not
a single sheep missing : " he is an honest fellow," quoth he, " this
" Talaiyari ; the very jewel of his race ! I promised him a reward, and
" he shall have it" There was a lame beast in the flock, well
enough in other respects, which he hoisted on his shoulders, and carried
to the place where the hind was, and courteously offered him the
mutton, saying, " you have taken great care of my sheep during my
" absence. Take this one for your trouble."

" I !" says the deaf hind, " I break your sheep's leg ! FU be
** hanged if I went near your flock since you have been gone, or
" stirred from the place where I now am." " Yes," says the shepherd,
" it is good and fat mutton, and will be a treat to you and your
" family or friends." " Have I not told thee," replied the Talaiyari in
a rage, " that I never went near thy sheep ; and yet thou wilt accuse
" rte of breaking that one's leg. Get about thy business, or I will give
" Ûiee a good beating !" And, by his gestures, he seemed determined
to put his threats in execution. The astonished shepherd got into a

510 HINDU TALES.

passion^ also, and assumed a posture of defiance. They were jusC
proceeding to blows, when a man on horseback came up. To him
they both appealed, to decide the , dispute between them ; and the
shepherd, laying hold of the bridle, requested the horseman to light,
jiist for a moment, and to settle the difference between him and the
beggarly Talaiyari. " I have offered him a present of a sheep," says he,
^^ because I thought he had done me a service ; and, in requital, he
" will knock me down." The villager was at the same time preferring
his complaint, that the shepherd ^ould accuse him of breaking the
leg of his sheep, when he had never been near his flock.

The horseman, to whom they both appealed, happened to be as
deaf as they; and did not understand a word that either of them
sa^d. But, seeing them both addressing him widi vehemence, he made
a sign to them to listen to him, and then frankly told them that he
confessed the horse he rode was not his own. ^' It was a stray that I
f' found on the road," quoth he, ^^ and being at a loss, I mounted
" him for the sake of expedition. If he be your's, take him. If not,
•^ pray let me proceed, as I am really in great haste.'.'

The shepherd and the village hind, each imagining that the horse-
man had decided in favour of the other, became more violent than
ever ; both cursing him, whom they had taken for their judge, and
accusing him of partiality.

At this crisis, there happened to come up an aged Brahman.
Instantly they all crowded round him ; shepherd, Talaiyari^ and horse-
man; each claiming his interposition, and a decision in his favour.
All spoke together ; every one telling his own tale. But the Brahman
had lost his hearing also. " I know," said he, " you want to compel

me to return home to her" (meaning his wife) ; " but do you know

her character ? In all the legions of the devils, I defy you to find
" one that is her equal in wickedness. Since the time I first bought
" her, she has made me commit more sin than it will be in my power
" to expiate in thirty generations. I am going on a pilgrimage to
" Kasi (Benares), where I will wash myself from the innumerable
" crimes I have been led into fix>m the hour in which I had the mis-

HINDU tales: 511

^^ fortune to make her my wife. Then will I wear out the rest of my
^^ days, on alms in a strange land."

While they were all four venting their exclamations, without hearing
a word ; the horse-stealer perceived some people advancing towards
them with great speed. Fearing they might be the owners of' the
beast, he dismoimted and took to his heels* The shepherd, seeing it
was growing late, went to look after his flock ; pouring out curses, as
he trudged, against all arbitrators, and bitterly complaining that all
justice had departed from the earth. Then he bethought himself of a
snake that crossed his path in the morning, as he came out of the
sheepfold, and which might account for the troubles he had that day
experienced. The Talaiyari returned to his load of grass ; and finding
the lame sheep there, he took it on his shoulder, to punish the
shepherd for the vexation he had given him ; and the aged Brahman
pursued his course to a choultry that was not far off. A quiet night
and sound sleep soothed his anger in part j and, early in the hiorning,
several Brahmans, his neighbours and relations, who had traced him
out, persuaded him to return home, promising to engage his wife to
be more obedient and less quarrelsome in future.

Tale of the Four simple Brahmans.

In a certain district, proclamation had been made of a Samara-
danam being about to be held. This is one of the public festivals
given by pious people, and sometimes by those in power, to the Brah^
mans; who, on such occasions, assemble in great numbers from
all quarters. Four individuals of the cast, from diflferent villages, all
going thither, fell in upon the road j and, finding that they were all
upon the same errand, they agreed to walk in company. A soldier
happening to meet them, saluted them in the usual way by touching
hands and pronouncing the words, always applied on such occasions to
Brahmans, of dandam-arya, or health to my lord. The four travellers
made the usual return, each of them pronouncing the customary
benediction of asirvadam; and, going on, they came tq a w^U,
where they quenched their thirst, and reposed themselves in the shade

512 ÎIINDU TALES.

of some trees. Sitting there, and finding no better subject of coi]k
versation, one of them asked the rest, whether they did not remark
how particularly the soldier had distinguished him, by his polite
salutation. " You !" says another, " it was not you that he saluted,
" but me." " You are both mistaken," says a third,, "-for you may
^^ remember that, when the soldier said dandam-arya, he cast his
" eyes upon me." " Not at all," replied the fourth, " it was me
" only he saluted ; otherwise should I have answered him as I did, by
" saying asirvadam ?"

Each maintained his argument obstinately ; and, as none of them
would yield, the dispute had nearly come to blows, when the least
stupid of the four, seeing what was likely to happen, put an end to
the brawl by the following advice : " How foolish it is in us," says he,
^ thus to put ourselves in a passion ! After we have ?aid all the ill
" of one another that we can invent, nay after going stoutly to
*^ fisticuffs, like Sudra rabble, should we be at 'all nearer to the decision
^^ of our difference ? The fittest person to determine the controversy, I
" think, would be the man who occasioned it. The soldier, who
" chose to salute one or other of us, cannot be yet far off. Liet us
" therefore run after him as quickly as we can, and we shall soon
" know for which of us he intended his salutation."

The advice appeared wise to them all, and was immediately adopted.
The whole of them set off in pursuit of the soldier ; and at last over-
took him, after running a league, and all out of breath. As soon as
they came in sight of him, they cried out to him to stop ; and, before
they had well approached him, they had put him in full possession of
the nature of their dispute, and prayed him to terminate it by saying,
to which of them he had directed his salutation. The soldier instantly
perceiving the nature of the people he had to do with, and being
willing to amuse himself a little at their expence, coolly replied, that
he intended his salutation for the greatest fool of all the four ; and
then, turning on his heel, he continued his journey.

The Brahmans, confounded with this answer, turned back in silence.
But all of them had deeply at heart the distinction of the salutation of
the soldier, and the dispute was gradually renewed. Even the

HINDU TALES. glQ

awk'turard decision of the warrior could not prevent each of them from
arrogating to himself the pre-eminence of being noticed by him, to
the exclusion of the other». The contention therefore now became,
which of the four was the stupidest ; and, strange as it was, it grew
as warm as ever, and must have come to blows, had not the person
who gave the former advice, to follow the soldier, interposed again with
his wisdom, and spoken as follows.

" I think myself the greatest fool of you all. Each of you thinks
^^ the same thing of himself. And, after a fight, shall we be a bit
" nearer the decision of the question ? Let us therefore have a little
" patience. We are within a short distance of Dharmapuri, where
^^ there is a choultry, at which all little causes are tried by the heads
" of the village ; and let ours be judged among the rest"

All agreed in the soundness of the advice ; and having arrived at
the village, they eagerly entered the choultry, to have their business
settled by the arbitrators.

They could not have come at a better season. The chiefs of the
district, Brahmans and others, had already met in the choultry ; and
no other cause offering itself they proceeded immediately to that of
the Brahmans. All the four advanced into the middle of the court,
and stated, that a sharp contest having arisen among them, they were
come to have it decided with fairness and impartiality. The court
desired them to proceed and explain the grounds of. their controversy.

Upon this, one of them stood forward, and related to the assembly
all that had happened, from their meeting with the soldier to the pre-
sent state of the quarrel ; .which rested on the superior degree of
stupidity of some one of them over the others.

. The detail created an universal shout of laughter. The president, who
was of a gay disposition, was delighted beyond measure to have fallen
in with so diverting an incident. But he put on a grave face, and laid
it down, as the peculiarity of the cause, that it could not be determined
on the testimony of witnesses, and that in fact there was no other way
of satisfying the minds of the judges, than by each, in his turn, relat-
ing some particular occurrence of his life, on which he could best es-
tablish his claim to superior folly. He clearly shewed that there could

3 u

514 HINDU TALES.

be no other means of determining to which of them the salutation
of the soldier could with justice be awarded. The Brahmans assented,
and upon a sign being made to one of them to begin, and to the rest
to keep silence, the first thus commenced his oration.

" I am poorly provided with clothing as you see ; . and it is not to

" day only that I have been covered with rags. A rich and very dia-

^ ritable Brahman merchant once made me a present of two pieces

" of cloth to attire me ; the finest that had ever been seen in our

** Agragrama *. I shewed them to the other Brahmans of the village,

^^ who all congratulated me on so fortunate an acquisition. They told

^< me it must be the firuit of some good deeds that I had done in a pre-

" ceding generation. Before I put them on, I washed them, according

" to the custom, in order to purify them firom the soil of the weaver's

^^ touch ; and hung them up to dry, with the ends fastened to two

" branches of a tree. A dog then happening to come that way, run

^^ under them, and I could not discern whether he was high enough to

" touch the clothes or not. I asked my children, who were present ; but

" they said they were not quite certain. How then was I to discover

" the fact ? I put myself upon all fours, so as to be of the height of

^^ the dog ; and, in that posture, I crawled under the clothing. Did

" I touch it? said I to the children who were observing me. They an-

^^ swered ^ No :' and I was filled with joy at the news. But after re-

" fleeting awhile, I recollected that the dog had a turned up tail ; and

" that, by elevating it above the rest of his body, it might well have

" reached my cloth. To ascertain that, I fixed a leaf to my rump,

" turning upwards ; and then, creeping again on all fours, I passed a

" second time under the clothing. The children immediately cried

" out that the point of the leaf on my back had touched the cJoth.

" This proved to me that the point of the dog's tail must have done so

" too, and that my garment was therefore polluted. In my rage, I

<^ pulled down the beautifiil raiment, and tore it in a thousand pieces^

" loading with curses both the dog and his master.

" When this foolish act was known, I became the laughing stock of
" all the world ; and I was- universally treated as a madman. * Even if

* Village inhabited by Brahmans.

HINDU tALES. 5I5

^^ the dog/ they all said: ^ had touched the cloth, and so brought de-
^^ filement upon it, might not you have washed it a second time, and
" so have removed the stain ? Or might you not have given it to some
" poor Sudra rather than tear it in pieces ? After such egregious folly,
^^ who will give you clothes another time ?' This was all true ; for ever
^^ since, when I have begged clothing of any one, the constant answer
^^ has been, that no doubt I wanted a piece of cloth to pull to pieces."

He was gokig on, when a bystander interrupted him by remarking
that he seemed to understand going on all fours. ^^ Exceedingly
^^ well," says he, ^^ as you shall see ;" and off he shuffled in that pos-
ture, amidst the unbounded laughter of the spectators.

*^ Enough, enough !" said the president. " What we have both
^^ heard and seen goes a great way in his favour. But let us now
" hear what the next of you has to say for himself, in proof of his stu-
^^ pidity." The second accordingly began, by expressing his confi-
dence, that, if what they had just heard appeared to them to be de*
serving of the salutation of the soldier, what he had to say would change
that opinion.

" Having got my hair and beard shaven one day," he continued,
^^ in order to appear decent at a public festival of the Brahmans (the
^^ Samaradanam), which had been proclaimed through all the district,
" I desired my wife to give the barber a penny for his trouble. She
^^ heedlessly gave him a couple. I asked of him to give me one of
<^ them back ; but he refiised. Upon that we quarrelled, and be^an
^^ to abuse each other ; but the barber at length pacified me, by offer-
^< ing, in consideration of the double fee, to shave my wife also. I
^^ thought this a fair way of settling the difference between us. But
^^ my wife, hearing the proposal, and seeing the barber in earnest, tried
^^ to make her escape by flight. I took hold of her and forced her to
^< sit down, while he shaved her poll in the same manner as they serve
^^ widows. During the operation, she cried out bitterly ; but I was
^^ inexorable, thinking it less hard that my wife should be close shaven
" than that my penny should be given away for nothing. When the
^^ barber had finished, I let her go, and she retired immediately to ^a
^^ place of concealment, pouring down curses on me and the barber. He

3u 2

516 HINDU TALES.

^^ took his departure ; and meeting my mother in his way^ fold her
^ what he had done ; which made her hasten to the house, to inquire
^^ into the outrage ; and when she satv^ with her own eyes that it was
*^ all true, she also loaded me with invectives.

^^ The barber published every where what had happened at our
^^ house ; and the villain added to the story, that I had caught her
^^ with another man, which was the cause of my having her shaved ;
^^ and people were no doubt expecting, according to aur custom in
^^ sucK a case, to see her mounted on the ass, with her face turned to-
^^ wards the tail. They came running to my dwelling from all^ quarters,
^^ and actually brought an ass to make the usual exhibition in the
^' streets. The report soon reached my father-in-law, who lived at a
^^ distance of ten or twelve leagues, and he, with his wife, came also
^^ to inquire into the affidr. . Seeing their poor daughter in that de^
^^ graded state, and being apprised of the only reason ; they reproached
^^ me most bitterly ; which I patiently endured, being conscious that
^ I was in the wrong. They persisted, however', to take her with them,
" and kept her carefully concealed from every eye for four whole years ;
" when at length they restored her to me.

^^ This little accident made me lose the Samaradanam, for which I
" had been preparing by a fast of three days ; and it was a great mor-
" tification to me to be excluded from it, as I understood that it was
a most splendid entertainment Another Samaradanam was an-
nounced to be held ten days afterwards, at which I expected to make
*^ up fpr my loss. But I was received with the hisses of six hundred
" Brahmans, who seized my person, and insisted on my giving up the
" accomplice of my wife, that he might be prosecuted and punished,
^^ according to the severe rules of the cast.

^^ I solemnly attested her innocence, and told the real cause of the
** shaving of her hair ; when an universal burst of surprise took place ;
^ every one exclaiming, how monstrous it was that a married woman
^^ should be so degraded, without having committed the crime of
" adultery ! Either this man, they said, must be a liar, or he is the
" greatest fool on the face of the earth ! Such I dare say, gentlemen,
^^ you will think me ; and I am sure you will consider my folly," (looks

HINDU TALES. 51 «j-

ing here with great disdain on the first speaker) « as being far superior
" to that of the render of body clothing."

The court agreed that the speaker had put in a very strong case ;
but justice required that the other two should also be heard. The
third claimant was indeed burning with impatience for his turn ; and,
as soon as he had permission, he thus began.

" My name was originally Anantya. Now, all the world call me
" Betel Anantya ; and I will tell you how this nickname arose.

" My wife, having been long detained at her father's house, on ao*
" count of her youth, had cohabited with me but about a month ; when»
" going to bed one evening, I happened to say, carelessly I believe^
" that all women were prattlers. She retorted, that she knew men
" who were not less prattlers than women. I perceived at once that
" she alluded to myself; and being somewhat piqued at the sharpness
" of her retort, I said. Now let us see which of us shall speak first.
" * Agreed,' quoth she ; ^ but what shall the loser forfeit ?' A leaf of
" betel, said I ; and our wager being thus agreed, we both addressed
" ourselves to sleep without speaking another word.

" Next morning as we did not appear at our usual hour, after some
" interval, they called us, but got no answer. They again called, and
" then roared stoutly at the door ; but with no success^ The alarm
" began to spread in the house. They began to fear that we had
" died suddenly. The carpenter was called with his tools. The
" door of our room was forced open ; and, when they got in, they
" were not a little surprised to find both of us broad awake, in good
" health, and àt our ease, though without the faculty of speech. My
" mother was greatly alarmed, and gave loud vent to her grief. All
" the Brahmans in the village, of both sexes, assembled, to the number
" of one hundred ; and, after close examination, every one drew his
*> own conclusion on the accident which was supposed to have be-
" fallen us. The greater number were of opinion, that it could have
" arisen only from the malevolence of some enemy, who had availed
" himself of magical incantations to injure us. For this reason a
" famous magician was called, to counteract the effects of the witch-
^ craft, and to remove it. As soon as he came, afi;er stedfastly con-

51g HINDU TALES.

^^ templatîng us for some time, he began to try our pulses, by put*
^^ ting his finger on our wrists, on our temples, on the heart, and on
" various other parts of the body ; and, after a great variety of grî-
^^ maœs, the remembrance of which excites my laughter, as often as I
^^ think of him, he decided that our malady arose wholly from the effect
" of malevolence. He even gave the name of the particular devil that
^^ possessed my wife and me, and rendered us dumb. He added that
^ this devil was very stubborn and difficult to lay ; and that it would
^^ cost* three or four pagodas, for the expence of the offerings neces-
" sary for compelling him to fly.

" My relations, who were not very opulent, were astonished at the
" grievous imposition which the magician had laid on. Yet, rather
^^ than we should continue dumb, they consented to give him whatso-
" ever should be necessary for the expence of his sacrifice ; and they
^< farther promised, that they would reward him for his trouble, as
^^ soon as the demon by whom we were possessed should be expelled.

^^ He was on the point of commencing his magical operations, when
^^ a Brahman, one of our friends who was present, maintained, in op-
^^ position to the opinion of the magician and his assistants, that
^ our malady was not at all the effect of witchcraft, but arose from
^^ some simple and ordinary cauâe ; of which he had seen several in-
** stances ; and he undertook to cure us without any expence.

" He took a chafing dish filled with burning charcoal, and heated
** a small bar of gold very hot. This he took up with pincers, and ap-
^^ plied to the soles of my feet, then to my elbows, and the crown of
" my head. I endured these cruel operations, without shewing the least
" symptom of pain, or making any complaint ; being determined to
" bear any thing, and to die, if necessary, rather than lose the wager
" I had laid

" * Let us try the effect on the woman,' said the doctor, astonished
" at my resolution and apparent insensibility. And immediately,
" taking the bit of gold, well heated, he applied it to the sole of her
*^ foot. She was not able to endure the pain for a moment, but in-
^< stantly screamed out : ' Appa, enough !' and, turning to me, ' I have
^^ lost my wager,' she said î ^ there is your leaf of betel.' Did I not

HINDU TALES. 5J 9.

^ tell you, said I» taking the leaf» that you would be the first to speak
" out, and that you would prove by your own conduct that I was right
" in saying yesterday, when we went to bed, that women are babblers ?

" Every one was surprized at the whole proceeding ; nor could any of
^^ them comprehend the meaning of what was passing between my wife
" and me ; until I explained the kind of wager we had made overnight,
" before going to sleep. * What V they exclaimed, ^ was it for a leaf of
^^ betel that you have spread this alarm through your own house, and the
" whole village? for a leaf of betel, that you shewed such constancy, and
^^ suflPered burning from the feet to the head upwards ? Never in the
*^ world was there seen such folly !' And from that time I have been
" constantly known by the name of Betel Anantya."

The narrative being finished, the Court were of opinion that so
transcendant a piece of folly gave him high pretensions in the depend-
ing suit ; but it was necessary, first, to hear the fourth and last of the
suitors ; who thus addressed them :

^^ The maiden to whom I was betrothed, having remained six or
*< seven years at her father's house, on account of her youth, we were
^^ at last apprized that she was become marriageable ; and hçr parents
^ informed mine that she was in a situation to fulfil all the duties of a
^* wife, and might therefore join her husband. My mother, being at
" that time sick, and the house of my father-in-law being at the dis-
" tance of five or six leagues from ours, she was not able to undertake
" the journey. She therefore committed to myself the duty of bring-
" ing home my 'wife, and counselled me so to conduct myself, in words
^< and actions, that. they might not see that I was only a brute*
" * Knowing thee as I do,' said my mother as I took leave of her, * I
*^ am very distrustful of thee.* But I promised to be on my good be-
" haviour ; and so I departed.

" I was well received by my father-in-law, who gave a great feast
<< to all the Brahmans of the village on the occasion. He made me
" stay three days, during which there was nothing but festivity. At
*^ length, the time of our departure having arrived, he suffered my
^* wife and myself to leave him, after pouring out blessings on us both»
^^ and wishing us a long and happy life, enriched with a numerous pos-

5^ HINDU TALES.

^ terity. When we took leave of him, he shed abundance of tears^ as
^r if he had foreseen the misery that awaited us..

.^ It was then the summer solstice, and the day was excessively hot
^ We had to cross a sandy plain of more than two leagues ; and the sand,
" being heated by the burning sun, scorched the feet of my young
" wife, who being brought up too tenderly in her father's house^ was
^^ not accustomed to such severe trials. She fell a crying, and being
^ imable to go on, she lay down on the ground» saying she wbhed to
** die there.

^ I was in dreadful trouble, and knew not what step to take ; when
^ a merchant came up, travelling the contrary way. He had a train
" of fifty bullocks, loaded with various merchandize. I ran to meet
^ him, and told him the cause of my anxiety with tears in my eyes ;
^^' and entreated him to aid me with his good advice, in the distressing
^ circumstances in which I was placed. He immediately answered,
^^ that a young and delicate woman, such as my wife was, could neither
^^ remain where she lay, nor proceed in her journey, under so hot a sun,
^^ without being exposed to certain death. Rather than that I should
^^ see her perish, and run the hazard of being suspected of having
" killed her myself, and be held guilty of one of. the five crimes which
" the Brahmans esteem, the most heinous, he advised me to give her
^^ to him, and then he would mount her on one of his cattle, and take
•^ her along with him. That I should be a loser, he admitted ; but
" all things considered, it was better to lose her, with the merit of
" having saved her life, than equally to lose her, under the suspicion
*• of being her murderer. * Her trinkets,' he said, ^ may be worth
** fifi;een pagodas. Take these twenty, and give me your wife.'

" The merchant's arguments appeared unanswerable : so I yielded
" to them, and delivered to him my wife, whom he placed on one of
*^ his best oxen, and continued his journey without delay. I continued
*^ mine, also, and got home in the evening, exhausted with hunger and
" fatigue, and with my feet almost roasted with the burning sand, over
♦* which I had walked the greater part of the day.

" Frightened to see me alone, * Where is your wife ?' cried my mo-
^^ ther. I gave her a full account of every thing that had happened firom

HINDU TALES. 521

^^ the time I left her. I spoke of the agreeable and courteous manner in
" which my father-in-law had received me, and how, by some delay, we
^^ had been overtaken by the scorching heat of the sun at noon, so as that
" my wife must have been suffocated, and myself suspected of her murder,
^^ had we proceeded ; and that I had preferred to sell her to a merchant
" who met us, for twenty pagodas. And I shewed my mother the money.

*^ When, I had done my mother fell into an ecstacy of fury. She
" lifted up her voice against me with cries- of rage, and overwhelmed
" me with imprecations and awful curses. Having given way to these
" first emotions of despair, she sunk into a more moderate tone.
<« « What hast thou done, wretch !' said she ^ what hast thou done !
^< sold thy wife, hast thou ! delivered her to another man ! A Brahma-
" nari is become the concubine of a vile merchant ! Ah ! What will
^ her kindred and ours say when they hear the tale of this brutish stu-
^ pidity, of folly so unexampled and degrading !'

" The relations of my wife were soon informed of the sad adventure
<^ that had befallen their unhappy girl. They came over to attack me^
" and would certainly have murdered me, and my innocent mother, if
^^ we had not both made a sudden escape. Having no direct object to
^^ wreak their vengeance upon, they brought the matter before the
*^ chiefs of the cast, who unanimously fined me in two hundred pa-
^ godas, as a reparation to my father-in-law, and issued a prohibition
^^ against so great a fool being ever allowed to take another wife ; de-
" nouncing the penalty of expulsion from the cast, against any one
^^ who should assist me in such an attempt. I was therefore con-
" demned to remain a widower all my life, and to pay dear for my
" folly. Indeed, I should have been excluded for ever from my cast,
" but for the high consideration in which the memory of my late father
^* is still held, he having lived respected by all the world.

" Now that you have heard one specimen of the many follies of my
" life, I hope you will not consider me as beneath those who have
•^ spoken before me ; nor my pretensions altogether undeserving of the
*^ salutation of the soldier."

The heads of the assembly, several of whom were convulsed with
laughter while the Brahmans were telling their histories, decided,. after

522 HINDU TALES.

hearing them all, that each had given such absolute proofs of folly as
to be entitled, in justice, to a superiority in his own way ; that each
of them therefore should be at liberty to call himself the greatest
fool of all, and to attribute to himself the salutation of the soldier.
Each of them having thus gained his suit, it was recommended to them
all to continue their journey, if it were possible, in amity. The de^
lighted Brahmans rushed out of court, each exclaiming that he had
gained his cause.

Tale of Apaji^ Prime Minister of King Krishnaraya.

Although the composition I am now about to describe be placed in
the list of tales, yet it is believed to . be founded on historical truth ;
the memory of the ^ good King Krishnaraya, and his faithful minister
Apaji, being still held in reverence among the Hindus. They flou-
rished a short time anterior to the first invasion of the country by the
Muhammadans ; and their sole ambition was tomake their subjects happy.
• But, whether history or tale, the narrative affords a good illustration of
the customs and usages bf the people.

In the happy times, when the race of Hindus was governed by native
Princes, one of their monarchs, called Krishnaraya, bore rule over one
of the most extensive and richest provinces of that vast country. His
only study was to gain the respect and love of his people, by render-
ing them happy ; and, with that view, he was particularly solicitous to
admit none into his service or counsels but men whose experience
and prudence would insure a wise administration of ther state- His
prime minister Apaji, stood highest in his confidence, because, with
many other excellent qualities, he possessed the happy talent of dis-
playing truth in entertaining and striking allegories.

One day, when at the court of his master, nothing of greater import-
ance being under consideration, the King proposed to him the follow-
ing question.

" I have ofi;en heard it said, Apaji, that men in their civil and
" religious usages, only follow a beaten track ; and that the form of
" worship, or of other customs, being once established, continues to be
^^ blindly acted upon by thé undiscerning multitude, however absurd

HINDU TALES. 523

^^ and ridicdous it may be. I desire that you will prove to me the
*« truth of that opinion, and shew me the justice of the trite adage
« so constantly employed through the whole country, ^ Jana Marulu,
« Jatra Marulu,' the meaning of which I take to be : Is it the men or
" their customs that are ridiculous ?"

Apaji, with his usual modesty, promised the King to apply him-
self to the solution of that proverbial question, and to give his answer
in a few days.

After the King had dismissed his council, Apaji wholly occupied
with the question which his master had given him to resolve, went
home, taking with him the shepherd who had the care of the King's
flock ; a man of a gross and rough nature, as those of his profession
generally are. He thus addressed him : " Hear me, Kuruba ; you
" must instantly lay aside your shepherd's clothing, and put on that of
" a Sannyasi or Penitent, whom you are to represent for a certain time.
" You will begin, by rubbing your whole body with ashes. You will
<^ then take in one hand, a bamboo rod with seven knots, and, in the
** other, the pitcher, in which a penitent always carries his water.
^ Under your arm, you will take the^ antelope skin, on which persons
" of that profession must always sit This being done, go without
" delay to the mountain nearest to this town, and enter the cavern in
" the middle of the hill, which every one knows. Going to the far-
" ther end of it, you will spread the antelope skin on the ground, and
" sit down upon it, in the manner of a penitent. Your eyes must be
" fixed on the ground, while one hand keeps your nostrils shut, and
<* the other is resting on the crown of your head. But be careful to
" perform your part well, and see that you do not betray me. It may
<^ happen that the King himself, with all his retinue, and vast multi-
" tudes of people, may go to see you ; but, whether . I, or even the
^ -King himself, shall be there, you must remain immoveable in the
" posture which I have described. And, whatever pain you may
" suffer, even if they shall pluck up all your hairs one by one, you
** must appear to feel as little as if you were dead ; complaining of
^< nothing, attending to nothing; looking at nobody, speaking to nobody.
^ There, shepherd ! That is what I demand of thee. And if thou

3x2

524 HINDU TALES.

(

^^ transgress my ordersi in the slightest degree, thy life shftU answer for
^^ it ; but if on the contrary thou shalt execute them as I expect^ thou
" shalt be most libera^y rewarded,"

The poor shepherd» having been all his life accustomed only to feed
his sheep, had no ambition to change his employment for that of a San«
nyasi ; but his master's commands were uttered in so determined a
tone, that he saw any attempt of his to alter them to be altogether
useless, and therefore prepared to play the part of the Penitent Every
thing being in order, he betook himself to the cave appointed, with the
resolution of executing the orders of his master.

Apaji, in the meantime, went to the palace, where he found the
King already surrounded by his courtiers. Having approached him,
he addressed him to this effect :

^ Great King ! While you are occupied in the midst of your wise
^^ counsellors with the means of making your subjects happy, I am
^ under the necessity of interrupting you, by announcing to you the
" most happy news, and that the day is arrived when the gods, de-
^ lighted with your virtues, have chosen to give you a signal proof of their
^ protection and favour. At the time I am now speaking, a great
•• wonder is exhibited in your kingdom, and very near your owa pa-
^ lace. In the middle of the mountain, which is but at a short distance
" from your capital, there is a cave, in which a holy penitent, descended
" without doubt from the dwelling place of the great Vishnu, has taken
" up his abode. In profound meditation on the perfections of Para-
" Brahma, he is wholly insensible to all terrestrial objects. He has no
" other nourishment than the air which he breathes, and^none of the
" objects that affect the five senses make the slightest impression on
" him. In a word, it may be truly said, that the body alone of this
" great personage resides in this lower world, whilst his soul, his
" thoughts, and all his affections, are closely united to the divinity.
** I have no doubt that the gods, in sending him to visit your king-
" dom, have deigned to give you an unequivocal proof of their favour
" and kindness to you and your people."

The King and all his court listened, with earnest attention, and re-
mained for some time looking at each other in deep amazement. At last

fflNDU TALES. 525

the King, with their unanimous concurrence, determined to visit the
illustrious stranger, and implore his blessing. He went accordingly,
in magnificent procession, with his court and troops attending. The
royal trumpets sounded in all parts, to announce the object of the visit,
and in vite, ail persons whatever to attend. As they came near the
mountain, the numbers encreased; and, never before, had such an
assembly been seen. Every face was cheerful, and every heart rejoiced
to have lived to see so distinguished a personage upon earth.

The King and the splendid throng had ascended the mountain^
and f^proached the cave where the pretended Sannyasi lived, in
deep seclusion from the world, and in intimate union with the deity.
The King, already penetrated with religious awe, entered the holy re-
treat, with marks of submission and reverence in his demeanour. There
he saw the object of his respect, in a remote corner. He paused a while,
and gazed at him in silence. • It was a human form he saw, sitting on
the skin of an antelope, with a pitcher of water on one side, and a
seven knotted bamboo rod on the other. Its head hung down, and its
eyes were fixed on the ground. One hand kept the nostrils shut, and
the other rested on its head. Its body seemed as motionless as th^
rock on which it lay.

The King was struck with reverential dread. He drew near to the
penitent ; and thrice he prostrated himself at his feet, and then ad-
dressed him in these terms :

" Mighty Penitent ! Blessed be my destiny which has prolonged my
" existence to this day, when I have the inexpressible felicity of seeing
" your holy feet* What I now behold, with mine own eyes, infinitely
" exceeds the public renown which emblazons your virtues. The hap-
" piness of this hour, I know not whence it comes. The few good deeds
*^ I have performed, in the present generation, are surely inadequate
" to so distinguished a favour ; and I can attribute it only to the merits
" of my ancestors, or to some signal work which I may have been ena-
" bled to perform in a preceding generation, the memory of which I
" no longer retain. But, however that may be, the hour in which I
" now first see your hallowed feet is far the happiest of my life. Hence-
*^ forth, I can have nothing to wish for in this world. It is enough

526 HINDU TALES.

^^ for any mortal to have seen those sacred feet ; for, so beatific a vision
<^ will blot out all the sins I have committed in this and all preceding
" generations. Now am I as pure as the sacred stream of the Ganges,
" and I have nothing more to wish for on earth."
. The counterfeit penitent received the flattering speech of the mo-
narch without emotion, and inflexibly maintained his posture. The
numerous spectators were amazed, and could only whisper to each
other, what a great being that must be, who could hear the submissive
addresses of such a King, without deigning to cast a glance of appro-
bation towards him. Well might it be said, they thought, that the
body only of the holy penitent remained upon the earth, while his
thoughts, his sentiments and his soul had been reunited to Para-
Brahma.

King Krishnaraya continued to gaze with admiration, and tried by
farther flattering and compliment, to gain but a single look of the
Sannyasi ; but the penitent continued absorbed in thought

The King was then about to take his leave; but the minister
Apaji interposed. " Great Monarch,'' he said, " having come so far to
" visit this holy personage, who will henceforth be the object of public
" veneration, and not having yet received his benediction, it would be
" desirable at least, to have some memorial of him, to preserve as a pre-
" cious relic ; if it were no more than one of the hairs, which grow so
" profusely on his body."

The King approved the advice of his minister, and immediately ad-
vanced, and neatly plucked a hair from the shaggy breast of the San-
nyasi. He put it to his lips and kissed it. " I shall enshrine it," said
he, " in a box of gold, which I shall always wear suspended to my neck,
«* as the most precious of my ornaments. It shall be my talisman
*^ against all accidents, and the source of perpetual good."

The ministers and other courtiers, who were about the King, fol-
lowed his example ; and each plucked a hair from the breast of the
penitent, to be preserved as a holy relic. The innumerable multitude,
who were spread over the mountain, gradually learned what was going
on in the cave. Every one burned with desire to be possessed of so
precious a memorial Each plucked his relic, till the tortured shep-

HINDU TALES. 537

herd had not a haSr left on his body. But he endured his sufferings
with heroic fortitude ; and never winced» nor altered his stedfast look»

On his return to the palace, the King informed his wives of all that
had passed, and shewed them the relic he had brought from the
breast of the Sannyasi. They heard and looked with curiosity and
wonder, and sorely lamented that the rigorous rules prescribed to
the sex had not permitted them to accompany their husband to the
cave, and to share in the general happiqess and joy, by visiting thé
holy man. But the King might, as the greatest of favours, graciously
permit the famous penitent to be brought to the palace, that they also
might have the happiness of seeing him, and of selecting a hair from
his body with their own hands.

The King made many difficulties, but at last consented to indulge
the wishes of his wives ; and, being desirous, at the same time, to do
honour to the Sannyasi, he ordered out his whole court, with his troops
of horse and foot, to serve for an escort. On arriving at the cave,
which was still surrounded by a part of the multitude, who had not yet
got their hairs, the four chiefs of the cavalcade went up to him, and
having unfolded the nature of their mission, they took up the motion-
less penitent in their arms, and pkced him in a superb new palanquin/
in the same posture in which they found him in the cave. '

The shepherd sat immoveable in the palanquin, still keeping up the
appearance of a Sannyasi in contemplation, and was conducted in state
through the streets of the city, in the midst of an immense concourse
of people, who made the air resound with their rejoicings. The poor
shepherd, in the meantime, who had eaten nothing for two days, during
which his whole skin had been lacerated and torn by the perpetual
plucking of the hairs, felt but little enjoyment from the triumph, and
would have betrayed the plot, but for the dread of his master's anger,
" Why should I,'' he would say to himself, " carry on a trick like this.
" in the midst of torment and pain ? I would be in the company of nay;
" sheep, and hear tigers roaring in the woods, rather than be deaf:
" ened with the noise of their acclamations. Had I been with my.
" flock, I should have had three good meals before now ; whereas afleu
" two days of fasting, I know not when I may be relieved^"

52g HINDU TALES.

While such thoughts were passing in his mind^ they arrived at the^
palace, and he was immediately introduced into a superb apartment,
where he received a visit from the Princesses. They prostrated them-
selves, one by one at his feet ; and after a pause of silent admiration^
each of them would have a hair also, to be enshrined, like their hus-
band's, in a box of gold, and to be ^om continually, as the most precious
ornament. It may be supposed that, after so much pincing and pluck-
ing, it would be no easy matter to find any thing remaining on the hide
of the poor shepherd ; and in fact it was. not without carefully explor-
ing various creases and folds, that each lady could be accommodated
with a relic At last, they concluded their devout visit, and retired ;
leaving the shepherd still maintaining his inflexible attitude of contem-
plation ; firom which he was at length relieved by the King giving
orders, that the Sannyasi should be left alone all night, in order to
enjoy repose, after so much fatigue and suffering.

But Apaji found a secret entrance by which he introduced himself
in the night to the hungry and smarting shepherd ; and thus he ad-
dressed him in soothing accents : *^ Kurubu ! the period of your pro-
** bation is accomplished. You have well performed the part I set down
^^ for you, and you have fiilfiUed my expectations. I promised you^a re-
" compence and you shall not be disappointed. In the meantime, put
" off that dress, and resume your coarse woollen cambalL Get some-
" thing to eat, and go to bed, as you have need ; and, in the morning,
" go out as usual with your sheep."

The shepherd did not wait a second bidding, but quickly got into the
fields, resolved not to act the Sannyasi any more.

Early next mornhig, the King went with his retinue to renew his
humble salutations to the holy penitent. They found him not, and
they remained astonished for a while. But, on reflection, their vener-
ation was augmented, for they could not doubt that it was some divinity,
imder a human form, who had come amongst them, on a temporary
visit, to convince them of his being their protector ; and had returned,
in the night, to his heavenly abode. The advent and departure of this
wonder were the only subject of conversation in court, town and coun-

HINDU TALES.

529

try for several days. Then it gradually grew stale^ and at last was but
occasionally remembered, like any other antiquated miracle.

A good while afterwards, when Apaji was one day at court, the
King put him in mind of the old proverb of Jana Marulu^ JaJtra Ma^
nduj and asked him whether he still thought that a people followed a
particular track, merely because it happened to be laid down for them,
and that, however ridiculous the ceremony and usages of a nation
might be, those who practised them were still more ridiculous.

Apaji, who waited, only for an opportunity like this, to enter on
his favourite speculation ; and having obtained permission to express
himself without reserve, thus addressed the King :

^^ Great King ! your own conduct some days ago decided this que»-
^^ tion, when you condescended to visit the cave in the mountain, and
" the pretended Sannyasi who was there. You have allowed me to
'^ speak without constraint, and I will therefore confess that the venér-
*^ able penitent was no other than the shepherd, who has been all his
" life employed • in keeping my sheep : a being so rough and unculti-
" vated as to approach nearly to utter stupidity. Such is the person*
" age whom you and your court, upon ray sole testimony, have treated
^^ with honours, almost divine, and have elevated to the rank of a
" deity. The multitude, without examination, have blindly followed
" your example, and, without any knowledge of the object of its ado-
" ration, run with you into the excess of fanatical zeal, in favour of
^^ a keeper of sheep, a low-born man, uneducated and almost a fool.
<< From this striking instance, you must be satisfied, that public insti-
<< tutions are matters of example and habit, and that wç ought to direct
^^ our ridicule of the absurd usages of a country, not so much against
^ the usages themselves, as against those who practise them."

The King, like a wise sovereign, took in good part the strenuous ef-
forts which his minister had boldly adopted to enlighten him on mat^
ters so important and abstruse, and continued to repose upon him as
lus most faithful subject and friend.

3 Y

( 530 )

CHAP. XL

OF THE MILITARY SYSTEM OF INDIA.

1 OUGHT perhaps, in prudence, to close my description of the Hindu
people and their customs, with the last chapter. My profession will
justly appear to disqualify me from giving a full or satisfactory account
of what relates to the subject of war. At the same time, as almost the
whole of their public monuments, religious and profane, represent the
image of war, and all their histories are filled with military details, a
few remarks on that subject will not be deemed inconsistent with the
nature of my work.

The cast of Kshatriya^ or Kings, and that oï R(yaputrasi or descendants
of Kings, were at one time the exclusive possessors of authority and go-
vernment in the various countries of India ; and to them the trade of
war exclusively belonged. No others had a right to enrol themselves
in the profession of arms.

The Hindu customs have undergone a great change in this particular.
The ambition of conquerors has overstepped and subverted those primi-
tive rules of their institution. At present, there are few Kings to be
seen of that cast, from which, in right of birth, they ought all to spring.
In India, as well as every where else, territory becomes the inheritance
of the strongest, and in most of the provinces Princes of base extraction
have, by boldness or cunning, raised themselves to the throne.

The right of bearing arms, which, in early times, belonged only to
the Rajaputras, is now universal ; and all casts, from the Brahmans down
to the Pariahs, may now become soldiers. Sometimes, Brahmans are
found commanding armies, and sometimes, particularly in the Mahratta
service, standing in the ranks.

MILITARY SYSTEM. S3|

Although the rules and practices followed by the Hindus seem to
have been intended to enervate the natural courage, and to oppose
insurmountable obstacles to the other qualities of a good soldier, yet
the art of war amongst them appears as old as any other of their
institutions; and, as a profession, it originally had, with them, the
preference which it merited. In the scale of society, it had the
second rank, and stood immediately after the priesthood, who had
the pre-eminence due to those functions which place them between
god and the human race.

Next to the Brahmans, the soldiers enjoyed the highest privileges
of any other citizens. Some of those privileges were common to
them with the Brahmans ; such as the high distinction of being per-
mitted to- read the Vedas, the right of being invested with the
triple cord, and some others which the Brahmans conceded to thenv
in consideration, no doubt, of the great benefits which they, as well
as the society at large, derived from their services.

But although the profession of arms was known and honoured
among the Hindus of ancient times, and although the history of no
country furnishes so many examples of wars, conquests, sieges, battles^
victories, and defeats, as that of India, in old though fabulous
periods ; yet it must be admitted that there is probably no nation on
earth where, though less honoured, the art was not cultivated with
greater advantage and success.

Until the era of the modern invasions, by those fierce and sanguinary
conquerors, who, at the head of their warlike and barbarous hordes,
passed the mountains of the north to lay waste the fertile and peaceful
provinces of India, inundating them with the innocent blood of ia
harmless race, whose undefended territories they usurped as lawful
spoil ; until then, the art of war was but in its infancy in India, and
the same as it had been for three thousand years. The feeble
resistance they made to those ferocious conquerors who so unworthily
used the right of the sword, and who, (a thousand times worse than
the swarms of locusts which frequently spread dismay over the land by
devouring the sources of existence,) carried desolation and death

3 Y 2

532 MILITARY S^TEM.

wherever they directed their course, sufficiently prove§ the inferiority
of the Hindu in discipline and courage.

Their wars are of three sorts : those of fabulous times, those of the
ancient Kings, and those of modem date. In speaking of the last,
i must premise, that I profess to treat only of such as were carried on
by the Princes of the country with each other, before the experience
of European tactics and skill had induced them to admit foreigners
into their armies, for the purpose of being tittined and disciplined by
their superior abilities. This arose from their ambition, or rather from
their narrow comprehension and dim perception of their own true
interests, which hindered them from seeing the dangers which, sooner
or later, must result. from admitting such dangerous auxiliaries into
their service. «What I shall observe upon is antecedent to that epoch ;
which, I believe, does not go back more than sixty or seventy years^

I do not at all touch upon the fabled wars of their gods, with each
other, or against the giants, which are so tediously given in their
books ; because they are entitled to no more attention than a sick
person in a fit of delirium. They would introduce us to armies of
^ants, whose heads reached the stars, riding on elephants of a size ade^
quate to their high stature. One of them will appear putting his
shoulders under the firmament and lifting it up. Then, with awful
concussion, he overturns the gods who dwell there, and shews what
he is capable of doing, and what they have to fear. In the same style,
à god goes forth to combat a giant, makes the earth his chariot, the
rainbow his bow, and Vishnu his arrow. He discharges this tremendous
shafl, and, at one stroke, utterly overwhelms an immense city, in which
the giants, his enemies, were intrenched, and are now all buried in
the ruins*

It would be easy for me to bring forward a thousand fooleries of
this sort ; which I have read in Hindu books ; but they cx)uld answer
no other purpose than to disgust the reader, and to prove that their
poets are the most senseless of mortals.
. The history of the wars of the ancient Kings of India is scarcely less
extravagant than the other, and deserves no greater attention. It is
not composed, in sober prose by historians, but by wild poets in

MILITARY SYSTEM. 533

enthusiastic verse ; who, in this and. in every thing besides, follow the
bias of their disordered imagination. What truth can be descried
through the thick veil of their fable ? The million of soldiers whom
Xerxes conducted for the overthrow of Greece, are but a handful, when
compared with the almost innumerable hosts of warriors that composed
the armies of the ancient Princes of India. But there is nothing
wonderful in such impostures, when we advert to the incurable tendency
of the Hindus to every kind of extravagance, whether in their narration,
Jn conversation, in civil affairs, in religious opinions, or in any other
circumstance of life.

But there is one thing connected with this subject, that is not
fabulous ; which is, that their armies were made up of four arms, which
the Hindus express by the word Chatur^^n^am» These four were
elephants, chariots, cavalry, and infantry. United, they composed a
complete army.

This mode of constructing an Indian army subsisted at the time of
the invasion of Alexander the Great. It was followed in the army of
Porus, who was subdued and taken prisoner by that great conqueror.
Qjuintus Curtius remarks that, in the line of battle, there were
arranged eighty-five elephants, three hundred chariots, and thirty
thousand infantry. He does not enumerate the cavalry of the Indian
King, but he afterwards alludes to it in his narrative.

What we have said of the four divisions of the ancient Indian
armies, may serve to fix the origin of the game of chess, which
has been the subject of so many disputes and researches, as well as to
reform the mode of playing it in Europe ; at least, as far as regards
the chess-men. I believe it is generally admitted to be a military game.
Castles, knights, pawns, and other terms justify that idea. But is it
not ridiculous, in the European way of playing it, to see castles
marching about ; a queen in every part of the battle, and stoutly
fighting ; bishops, at the side of the King, maintaining a conspicuous
share in the combat ; and the like?

« The Hindus, who play this game as we do, with some slight
variations, call it Chatur-angam, an army of four arms. At the two
opposite sides of the chess board they plant the elephants, which

534 MILITAIIY SYSTEM.

were formerly surmounted with small towers. We have substituted
in their place, thick solid castles with r^uhtr battlements all round»
and we make those great masses fly nimbly about in all directions^

Instead of the bishops we employ, the Hindus make use of cars,
representing the vehicle anciently used in their armies. In . place of
our queen, whom we make very active in the battle, rather unsuitably
to her sex, they bring forward what they x»ll Mantri^ or minister of
state, a leader who changes from place to place during the fight, and
sometimes strikes a blow, as he passes. AH this we think sufficiently
demonstrates that the Hindus were the original inventors of chess.

The field of battle is called Pura-Sthalam^ or place of combat. From
this word is probably derived the name of Porus, which the ancient
Greeks give to the King whom Alexander conquered on the banks of
the Indus. They probably confounded the name of the place of the
battle with that of the Prince who fought. This, probably, is not the
only error into which the authors would fall who give such erroneous
accounts of India and its inhabitants. But it is time to return from
this digression to the constituent parts of the armies of the anci^it
Kings of India, beginning with the elephants.

All the ancient authors speak of towers, supported by these animals»
filled with combatants, in the armies of the Asiatic Princes. But I
believe we shall not form correct ideas on the subject, without making
great allowances for the imagination of those writers. If these
turrets were at all high, the motion of the animal, which from its manner
of walking, is more jolting than that of any other, would necessarily
make it lose its balance and tumble down. For the elephant does not
move like other quadrupeds, advancing the legs alternately, but brings
forward the two legs of one side together. If they were constructed
with much solidity, they would be too heavy for the animal, which,
though the strongest of any, does not support a weight proportioned
to his size. For, powerful as he is, they can scarcely venture a heavier
load on his back than twelve hundred weight ; and they must take
some pains to reconcile him even to that.

Of all that has been written, therefore, of castles filled with armed
men, on the backs of elephants, a great deal must have been borrowed

MILITARY SYSTEM; $$5

from indistinct observers» unacquainted with the nature of the animal»
who^ being astonished at its enormous bulk, fancied its strength to
be equally great. Towers such as have been described are therefore
plainly absurd. At the same time, I do not assert that the elephant has
not been used, to great- advantage, in war. The soldiers on his back,
were furnished with numbers of arrows, or other missile weapons, which
they could employ with great effect against an enemy's army. The
elephant himself, when accoutred for the combat, was still more terrible
than his riders, and wonderfully contributed to spread terror and con-
fusion amongst enemies unaccustomed to that species of warfare.

These extraordinary creatures, even at this day, are of great use in
the armies of the Indian Princes. But they serve more for parade than
for war. It belongs to the dignity of generals, and other chiefs, to be.
mounted on elephants, superbly harnessed ; and, when they take the
field, they are armed with the bow, with fire-arms, and often with a
long spear ; which they change in battle according to circumstances*

The elephant, by nature, has a great dread of fire ; and they are
obliged to train him by practice to endure it, and even habituate him
to actual burnings, that he may not in battle be terrified and rendered
unmanageable by the fire-works which are thrown amongst them. In
sieges they are of great use, in forcing the gates of fortified places. And»
to increase their efficiency, they are sometimes equipped with strong
points of iron of great strength.

In the Mogul armies, an elephant always led the way in a march»
having a long pole fixed on his head, with a great flag hoisted on its
top. Another elephant generally followed, who carried on his back a
small casket set in a niche, inclosing some relics, precious to theMuham-
madans ; sometimes, even, a true or pretended hair of the beard of the.
Prophet.

The only unequivocal service which the elephant renders is in the
transport of artillery. When the bullocks which draw the cannon are
stopped by a slough or a ditch, or any similar impediment, one elephant
or more arc brought, who raise up the carriages with their trunks, and
greatly assist in carrying them through bad roads. In passing rivers
and canals, where there are no fords, the people and heavy baggage are

536 MILITARY SYSTBML

transported on their backs. But these advantages» and others which
might be mentioned, are greatly overbalanced by the expence of their
keeping.

. The chariots are the next department of the ancient armies of India.
They appear to have been very numerous and of vast size. AH the
principal officers rode in them, and that of the King was particularly
splendid. When two Princes were at war with each other, they still
kqpt up the forms of politeness, and never commenced a battle without
saluting each other from their chariots ; condpding with mutual defi-
ance. We read in one of their books that one of those Kings, when he
rode up to give battle to his enemy, first shot an arrow of compliment^
. which dropped at the foot of his chariot. The other returned the civi*
lity in the same way, and then the combat began.

I have never seen a minute description of those vehicles ; but the
books in which they are mentioned describe them as being large, and
drawn by five horses. In one book, I remember to have read of some
Prince who, in preparing for war, got a troop of devils for a team ; so
diat he could not fail to drive at a good pace. It was a regular appen-
dage to all chariots, to be hung round with large bells, which would
create a fine clangor in the field of battle, and serve to spread terror

• ■

and dismay through the enemy's ranks.

Perhaps, it is in imitation of those ancient chariots of war, that the
Hindus of the present day decprate their carriages with many bells, the
tinkling of which announces their approach from afar. But the cars, in
which the Hindus now sometimes travel, are of modern taste, and bear
no analogy to the ancient war chariots.

Cavalry formed the third division of the Hindu army. Their strength,
however, did not consist in that arm, their whole dependence being on
the foot This is now wholly changed in modern times, when the in-
fantry are almost entirely laid aside, with the exception of a few un-
disciplined bands of freebooters, whose principal and indeed only
business, is, not to fight, but to spread themselves about in the
defenceless villages; to pillage, ravage, burn, and destroy whatever
comes in their way ; and to scatter havoc and desolation through the
whole territory of the enemy.

MILITARY SYSTEM. 537

The Moguls and Mahratas, who, till lately, were the two principal
powers who disputed the mastery, in many lomg, obstinate, and bloody
wars, sometimes brought, on each side, upwards of a hundred thousand
horse into the field. The Mahrata Princes, if united, could make a
muster of three hundred thousand.

But they have never been able to bring forward any thing like this
immense number of combatants ; because they knew scarcely any thing
of the military art. The severe lessons which the Europeans have con-
tinually afforded them, for more than three hundred years, since they
have had a footing there, have scarcely yet opened their eyes to the
defects of their ancient system of tactics, and the great superiority of
those of their opponents. They have never yet known what the seve-
rity of discipline in an army may effect, or the advantage of the arrange-
ment of the troops, the order of marching, and encampment. They
are wholly devoid of the skill by which large masses of men are moved,
without confusion or trouble ; and they think they have done every
thing when they have got together an immense and indiscriminate mul-
titude, without order, and acting in the field from individual impulse
and at random.

. The General has under him a great number of chiefs, who command
such horse troops as they can raise upon pay. Each man brings his
owii horse, and receives certain wages for himself and beast, which he
keeps at his own expence ; and when it dies or is lost, he also is dis<«
missed from the service.

This method of recruiting their armies is extremely prejudicial to the
enterprize of the soldier ; because the great object of his care being to
preserve the horse, upon the safety of which his own bread depends, he
is always ready to make his escape, when any real danger appears.

In these armies, desertion is very frequent ; nor are the deserters
either strictly sought afler or severely punished. What they chiefly de-
pend upon as a preventive, is to keep up a good arrear of pay ; which
compels the soldier to remain at his colours, or to relinquish what he has
earned. Sometimes, indeed, they mutiny in such cases, and arrest
their General, or threaten him with the sabre : all whic|i he is obliged
to put up with, without blaming, far less punishing, the agitators. He

. • 3z

538 MILITARY SYSTEM.

reconciles them, in the best way he is able, by giving them acknow-
ledgements at least of the debt; and the «ame slippery service is
renewed.

Troops so undisciplined una mercenary cannot be expected to be
very courageous ; but marks of valour are often seen in their leaders,
particularly among the Moors. They never fly in battle, though over-
matched, while any of their people support them ; and the point of
honour is more concerned amongst them, m submitting to a retreat, than
amongst us.

The privates in the Moorish and Mahrata cavalry are in general vary
poorly mounted. Parties of them sometimes make excursions, and
burst into a district where they were not at all expected. It is not that
good horses are not to be foimd in India, particularly in the northern
states ; but they are sold so high that private individuals cannot aflbrd
to buy them. The chiefs, however, take none but the best ; and they are
at great pains to find them. They decorate them in various ways, and
often paint them over with different colours. They dress them also
with infinite neatness, and mount them with perfect grace.

The Mahratas accustom their steeds to stop when a certain cry is
given. The horseman dismounts, and the horse stands still as if he
were tied. I knew a late instance of a robber who, seeing a horse thus
standing still, got upon his back to fly beyond the reach of his pursuers,
and had got the animal into a gallop, when the owner perceived him,
and instantly gave the accustomed cry to halt* The docile creature
obeyed its master's call, perceived its error, and suddenly stopped. The
robber tried all means to spur him on, but they were ineffectual ; and
he was fain to dismount and make his escape on his own legs.

The Moorish and Mahrata cavalry are armed with lances and arrows ;
to which some of them add the musquet. Many have a wretched sabre,
and a great number carry cataris or daggers. Several have no other
armour than the whip or rod, with which they push on their steed*
Each individual provides his own horse and arms ; and there is nothing
like uniformity in their weapons or accoutrements.

They scarcely understand marching in a line, nor are they exercised
in the evolutions of cavalry : which is indeed less necessary, as a gene-

MILITARY SYSTEM.

539

ral engageniiimt is » thing almost unheard of amongst them. In their
first wars thefe was nothing beyond skirmishes, or sudden surprizes by
one party upou another» which generally ended with little bloodshed.
The operatio|!|| of an undisciplined army must always have consisted,
as they do to i\ds day in India, in burning and laying waste the ene-
my's country, (n pillaging the poor defenceless inhabitants and putting
them to the tor^^re, to force them to disclose their concealed treasures.
It is not therefof e to be wondered at that small detachments of European
cavalry or infantry should have been recently found to rout ten times
their number of «uch a miserable host

The infantry force was still more wretched before the present practice
began, of permitting their troops to enter into the service of the Euro-
peans, for the purpose of giving them discipline. Till then, foot sol-
diers were little k)|own in the Mogul and Mahn^;a armies.

Infantiy. hawevfsr, were more esteemed among the Kings of anti-
quity ; then forming the fourth order of their military establishment.
It was then the nibst numerous part, and what was most relied on in
their battles. And still it constitutes to this day the only strength of
the little Princes of the country known commonly under the name of
Poligars.

These Poligars, who may be compared, in several respects^ with the
Barons of France and England during the thirteenth century, who
from their lofty castles and towers could brave and insult the royal au-
thority, which they often found means to bridle and subdue, are very
numerous in various provinces of India ; and were still more so, before
the great European power, which of late has extended its rule or in-
fluence over the country, had diminished the number of those privileged
robbers. Their defences are thick forests, or steep ipountains, where
they can set at defiance those who rule over the countries which inclose
them. The higher power, finding it impossible to reduce them without
much labour ; and fearing at the same time, by unnecessary violence,
to rouse them to acts of pillage and devastation, is contented to live
with them in the best manner it may.

The confined and barren territory, possessed by the Poligars, not
being adequate tfl their maint^Giance and that of their horde, they keep

Sz 2

540 * MILITARY SYSlffiBL

a great number of robbers and plunderers m their employ meilt^ whom
they send out, from time to time, in the night, to the. neighbouring
jcountry ; from which they return with their booty, and share it with
their masters. •

The English, however, after experiencing some loss, have, by per-
severance, almost wholly eradicated this evil ; and have shewn the
robbers, to their cost, what military discipline and vigour can accom-
plish, in the most difficult enterprises.

The arms of these chiefs, and of those they have in their service,
are bows and arrows, spears, and match-lock guns. They are utterly
ignorant of regular battle or of maintaining a contest in the open field;
but, when pursued, they betake themselves to their thick woods or steep
rocks, where they endeavour to decoy the enemy into some narrow
defile, suited to their active and desultory attacks. It was not without
penetrating into the heart of their forests, and after great labour and loss,
that the English succeeded in laying hold of their leaders, and establish-
ing in their territory a state of order and tranquillity, which they had
never known before.

Castrametation is as little understood by the Hindu Generals as the
order of fighting. In their march, and encampment, there is the utmost
confusion. When it is necessary for the army to halt, the great object
attended to is the facility of obtaining water. A large supply is not
every where to be found, particularly at certain times of the year : and
whole armies have been seen reduced to the utmost extremity of dis-
tress by being deprived, even for a short time, of an article of such in-
dispensable necessity in a burning climate.

A great flag, which goes first, and is raised very high, marks the
place where the army is to halt. Every division takes up its ground
beyond the standard, without regularity or order. The chief pitches
his tent in the midst of his party, and hoists his flag upon it ; every
leader having one appropriate for himself, which may be distinguished
by his own party. Thus every thing is in confusion, with the exception
of a small space about the tent of the General, where some degree of
order is observed ; and likewise in the market place, where a very good
police is kept up. Here all sorts of goods are to be seen, and various

MILITARY SYSlj-EM. 542^

kinds pf merchandise» in abundance, which are chiefly supplied ùoïxl
the plunder of the country through which the army has marched. Fdr
no Hindu army has any respect for property. Wherever they spread,
rape» conflagration, pillage, devastation and . every sort of excess acr
company their progress. . , ^

. The wasteful Hindus scarcely know what it is to form a magazine, or
to have convoys of provisions ; trusting wholly to their. foraging parties
to siipply their wants. And, so effectually is this done, that numl^ers of
purveyors follow the armies, buying at a cheap rate, from the soldiers,
the goods and property pillaged in the march, which they bring regu-
larly to the market. On the other hand, when their march lies through
a country already laid waste, these dealers follow with their oxen laden
with provisions. ,:

The most abominable profligacy exists in all their armies, but pais
ticularly among the Moors. The persons, who so devote themselves»
have separate quarters which are perfectly well known, and not less fircT?
quented. The General makes them an object of revenue. ^^

Among the followers of the camp there are numbers of mountebanks,
all sorts of magicians, soothsayers and fortune-tellers, rope-dancers,
slight of hand men, sharpers, thieves, faquirs, blind beggars, and. in
short so many useless mouths that they out-number the effective sol^.
diers. Besides, every soldier is accompanied by his whole family; so that
an army of twenty or five and twenty thousand soldiers, is attended by a
train of two or three hundred thousand other individuals, whose chief
emplo3rment it is to take advantage of the confusion which reigns^ in ;^
camp, and to addict themselves to plunder and every other ; sort of
licence. The Mahratas are not so subject to this evil, because it U
not so easy to keep up with them in the forced marches they are
accustomed to make. ^

The tents of the chiefs, particularly amongst the Moors, are largç
and commodious, suited to the taste for luxury and voluptuousness
which characterises the Asiatic Princes. They are filled with superl)
and useless finery, and divided into several apartments, o£ which
some are for their wives or concubines, by whom they aye always
attendedt In the midst of the tumult of camps, a Ilindu Frinc§

542 muTART sisaaL

never forgets any thing that can administer to his appetites or enervate
his courage.

To take an army of this sort by surprise, is no difficult opention ;
for they keep no outposts. Their spies in the enemy's camp, in some
measure, make up for the defect, by apprizing their friends, when
they perceive any extraordinary movement of the eiiemy, and so
putting them on their guard.

Assaults by night are but rare, the parties being more disposed to
enjoy their own slumber than to disturb that of their enemies, at un-
seasonable hours.

The art of besieging towns was also, till of late, but little understood.
Famine or capitulation were, in general, the only means resorted to
for gaining possession of any place of. strength. To attempt to take a
town by storm, would have been considered an undertaking of desper-
ation and madness : and it has often happened that places, surrounded
only with old earthen walls, and defended by a few hundred of the
neighbouring peasantry, with no arms but a few matchlock musquets,
have been defended for a long time, against considerable armies ; who,
being fatigued and worn out by the continued repulses of the besi^ed,
have been obliged to retire from the place, with the disgrace of having
made no impression upon it whatever.

The state of safety in which the governor of a town, so besieged,
considers himself to be, against all the efforts of a beleaguering army,
is carried to a degree of confidence so unconquerable, that, even in
these days, when they have had experience of what European courage
and conduct can do, and have seen the awful consequences of a suc-
cessful siege, followed up by an assault, they still retain their obstinacy.
Instances have lately occurred of the commanders of these paltry
earthen forts refusing to surrender, at the summons of an European
army, defying it with insolence, and demeaning themselves, at the
moment of the assault, as if they were only attacked by some undis-
ciplined hordes.

In general, it is held a point * of honour in the commander of a
town, never to surrender at the first summons, however inconsiderable
and defenceless the place may be, and however powerful the army

MILITARY SYSTEM.

5iS

that attacks it; let the terms proposed for capitulation be ever so
reasonable. To surrender under such circumstances, would bring
public disgrace upon the sovereign ; and all the world would consider
it an act of treason on the part of the governor.

The use of trenches has been long known to the Hindus, and they
have been accustomed to make their approaches by that means to the
places they besiege. When the two parties thus get near to each
other, they fall to mutual defiance and reproaches. " If you cannot
^^ take this place," say the besieged Pagans to the Muhammadan
aggressors, " you will look as queer as if you had been eating pork.*'
" Very true," reply the Musalmans, " but if we do take it, it will
" be as pleasant to you, as if you had eaten up a cow." Bravery is a
virtue laid claim to by all nations, even by the most indolent and
timid; and when people of that stamp, amongst whom we cannot
refuse the Hindus the very highest rank, feel themselves out of the
reach of danger, they are the most' apt to give a loose to vain glory
and gasconade.

One method of taking a fortress, very much practised, is that of
incantation. The besiegers employ magicians and sorcerers, who exert
all the power of their wicked arts to paralyze the exertions of the
besieged, and to make their leader fall. He, again, puts contrary
spells in operation, fit to counteract these machinations, or even, -of so
potent a nature, as to aim at the total destruction of the besieging
army. I know that, since I have been in India, all this has been
practised : with what advantage to either party, I leave to the reader to
imagine.

The fortifications of places of the first order formerly consisted,
and, in many parts, still consist, in one or two thick walls, flanked
with round or triangular towers ; upon which some pieces of cannon,
but poorly supplied, are commonly mounted. A wide and deep ditch
is on the outside ; but, as the Hindus are unskilful in the construction
of bridges, they always leave a causeway from the gate of the town' over
the ditch, which is generally masked by a wall, that conceals it fix>m
without.

544

IttlLITARY SYSTEM.

But, since the Europeans have introduced themselves among the
Hindus, as their masters in homicide ; since they have made them the
fatal present of their destructive tactics, and have taught them to cut
each others throats with more method and effect, according to the
refinements of military art ; since, in furnishing them with engines
more murderous than their own, they have had the abhorred dis-
tinction of teaching/ them by rule, the dreadful uses to which those
instruments can be turned, for the destruction of the species : since
that epoch, which they have for ever to deplore, the Hindus have
changed their modes of warfare, in the camp and field, as well as in
the fortress.

' The most considerable of their ancient places of strength are the
castles, built on mountains of steep rock ; many of which appear im-
pregnable. They are called Durgas^ and are seen in great numbers in
that part of India which is most hilly. We find in Quintus Curtius *
a description of one of these Durgas called Aottius^ on the banks
of the Indus, which stood out against Alexander, and which he was
unable to take until abandoned by the garrison.

The Durgas that have a great elevation, have the inconvenience of
a cold and humid atmosphere ; while, in the valley, or at the foot of
the rock, the air is mild, and sometimes hot. For this reason, those
who are stationed in these high forts are unhealthy, and are subject
to fevers, which are very difficult to cure.

I shall conclude this branch of my subject with a few words on the
Arms of the country. The Hindus have thirty-two different kinds of
weapons, each of which has a particular name and description in their
.1x>oks. Models of them are also to be seen in the hands of the
images of their principal gods. Each of the thirty-two gods has his
xmn peculiar weapon. It would be difficult ttf give in writing, any
tolerable description of them, as hardly one of them bears the
smallest resemblance to such as are known in Europe. All that can
i>e said in general, is, that some are edged for hacking, some pointed
for the thrust^ and others obtuse and weighty for the purpose of con-

* Lib. viii, c. 11.

fimiTrART SYSTEM. 545

tusion. Among the defensive, are the helmet and the shield. The
latter is the more common, and is made of leather, studded with nails,
with large round heads ; and is generally about two feet in diameter. •
Some Hindu soldiers, instead of a cuirass, wear a kind of thick and
quilted jackets ; a sort of armour greatly in use amongst the Hebrews
of old, and other ancient people. They were made with great art, and
could ward off the blows of cutting instruments ; and the same advan-
tage is attributed to those of the Hindus : but they certainly are not
impenetrable to musket-shot ; and I cannot imagine that any advantage
they afford can be at all equivalent to the inconvenience they occasion
in sultry climates.

The most common weapon of offence, in ancient times, was the bow
and arrow. It is still practised with skill and effect. Their arrows are
small, not being more than two or two and a half feet long. The bows
do not exceed that length, although their fables make those of their
gods to be of a prodigious sweep. It is stated that the bow of Rama
was carried with difficulty by fifty thousand men.

The favourite weapon of Vishnu is the Chakrani; which is a round
or circular machine, of which many devotees of the god bear the em-
blem, imprinted on their shoulders with hot iron. It is stiU used in some
places, and is nothing more than a large circular plate of iron, the outer
edge of which is made very sharp. Through the centre a shaft passes,
by means of which a rotatory motion is given to the plate, which whirls
with great rapidity, and cuts whatever it approaches. I am inclined to
believe, that neither this, nor several other weapons that I have seen re-
presented in the hands of the idols, are at all used in any other nation.

Another species, very much in use among all the Hindu Princes, is
a ^ort of large rocket, hooped with iron, and eight or ten inches long»
They fire it in a horizontal position, and employ it chiefly in spreading
confiision and disorder amongst the cavalry. They wound whatever
they approach ; and sqpe emit a crescent of fire, which makes them
exceedingly dangerous. In general they do not make so loud a report
as our hand-grenades, but they have a more extensive rangé.

From the Hindu books, it appears that the use of these fire-works,
which are called Vana or Bana^ is very ancient. Mention is made

546 MILITARY SYSTEM.

in the . Ramayana of the Vana or Bocket of Ralba^ as one of his
principal missiles. The Vana is also one of the thirty-two species of
arms enumerated by the ancient Hindus ; which is a proof that the use
of gunpowder was not unknown to them, at an early period ; for, with-
out that material, it would be impossible to charge the rockets, which,
from the oldest times to the present day^ have been employed by this
people.

Besides, the knowledge and practice of the various sorts of fire-works
known in Europe, must have been of ancient date amongst the Hin*
dus ; since there are some casta, whose ordinary, and sometimes only
occupation, has always been the making of such preparations of gun*
powder. It is probable that the Europeans have borrowed the art from
them. But it is certain that they possessed it before the period 6f the
modern invasions of the Christian and Muhammadan powers ; which
evidently establishes the invention of gunpowder, aipong them, to have
preceded its discovery in Europe by many centuries.

At the same time it appears that the Hindus were not formerly ac-
quainted with the destructive effects of this powerful agent, when
strongly compressed in metallic tubes. It was reserved to the Euro-
peans to instruct them in this deplorable and pernicious science. For^
till the invasions from Europe, the people of India made no use of gun-
powder, but for pleasure and amusement Their invaders taught them
its murderous qualities.

Besides several of the ancient instruments peculiar to the nation, the
Hindus have lately adc^ted the lance, the dagger, and the sabre. The
last is now their favourite weapon. They have masters of defence who
teach the art ; and they practise it very gracefully. But these arms are
not often stained with the blood of an enemy.

The musket has also become a favourite amongst them, although, in
their hands, it is not very fatal. Till lately, they had only matchlocks,
and their powder has been always very bad.

The Hindu armies are never exercised in firing. Their Princes
think it a useless expence to waste powder in any other way than in the
field of battle.

Of late, the Europeans have provided them with pieces of cannon^

MILITARY SYSTEM. 547

of brass and cast iron. They had iron ones before, but they were com-
posed of separate bars, fastened together, and of an enormous calibre ;
and, with this miserable artillery, they shot stone balls of more than a
foot in diameter. They did not understand any way of pointing them
but horizontally. Their ignorance of the European mode of serving
the artillery was often the cause of many of them losing their lives. I
have read, in a manuscript written here about sixty years ago, that,
about that time, the Raja of Tanjore, for some grudge, having declared
war against the Dutch, sent a considerable body of troops to take the
fort of Negapatam. Some cannon shots were fired upon them from
thence without taking effect. The King's troops, remarking that the
bullets went high over their heads, advanced to the glacis, thinking they
had nothing to fear from the artillery of their enemies. But the Dutçh^
taking the opportunity of their near ^proach, loaded their guns with
grape-shot, and, taking a good aim, threw the whol^ army into disor-
der, and taught them, to their cost, how easy it was to change the direc-
tion of a cannon.

The author, from whom I quote, adds, that, on the same occasion, a
Brahman, in the service of the Raja, having gone too near the fort,
his palanquin was struck with a cannon-shot, and shivered in pieces.
He himself was unhurt, having cautiously quitted it a little before ; but
his fear was so excessive that he fled, with the utmost precipitation ;
swearing, from time to time, by the three hundred and thirty millions
of gods, that he would never again, while he lived, go within ten leagues
of any colony inhabited by European dogs.

4a 2

APPENDIX.

ON THE SECT OF THE JAINAS AND THE PRINCIPAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THEM

AND THE BRAHMANS.

X HE details which I propose to give on the sect of the Jainas^ their doctrines
and particular customs, have been communicated to me by several learned per*
sons, belonging to that sect, in various districts, and at different times. But»
as my instructors did not agree in all points, I have thought it most prudent to
avoid all uncertainty, by omitting every thing on which there was a diversity of
opinion, and to admit that only on which they were all agreed. I have like-
wise taken pains to ascertain the authenticity of great part of what follows, by
consulting several Jaina books, which were for some time in my possession, and
from which many of the particulars here given are abridged. So that I
can venture to vouch for the accuracy of what I report. And I may be per-
mitted here to say that it has been my constant rule, while I have been meditat-
ing this work, in all cases to which my personal observation did not extend, or
where I had not the authority of books, to reject whatever I had taken from
one mouth, if I found it contradicted by others, during the whole range of my
excursions in the different provinces of India.

The name Jaina is composed of two words Ji and Na^ signifying a person
that has renounced the ordinary modes of thinking and living among mankind.
For a true Jaina is bound to this separation from society, by his religion, which
prescribes it, and also that he may avoid the scorn and sneers which the due
performance of his sacred duties would there bring upon him ; and by tliat firm
belief in holy things which he must hold inviolable to his dying hour. Yea, his
religion is the only true one upon earth j the primitive faith of all mankind.

550 JAINAS. [ApvbmIX.

In the progress of timei the true religion was gradually abused in different
essential points ; and abominations, corruptions, and superstitions of every kind
have usurped its place. The Brahmans who gained the ascendant, swerved
from all the old religious maxims of their Hindu ancestors, la3dng aside the
venerable traditions of their masters, and substituting in their place a monstrous
combination in which there cannot be seen a trace of the primitive doctrines.

The Brahmans are undoubtedly the inventors of the Vedas, the eighteen
Puranas, the Trimurti, and the extravagant fables of the Avataras of Vishnu»
the infamy of the Lingam, the worship of the Cow and other Animals, and of
sensible objects, the sacrifice of the Tajna, and many other absurdities not
less reprehensible. The whole of these are rejected by the Jainas^ who hold
them to be a mass of abominations, innovations, and corruptions of the true and
primitive religion.

These depravations of the Brahmans were not indeed introduced suddenly
and at once, but insensibly and little by little. The Jainas who then formed,
with the Brahmans, a part of the same general body of Hindus, all possessing
the same common religion, were unwilling to come to an open rupture, but
never ceased, from the outset, to oppose with all their might the dangerous in*
novations and changes which that proud body were introducing into the pure
system which every class of Indians had professed from the remotest times.

But the sound believers at that period, perceiving that all their endeavours
to preserve the true religion pure and unspotted, were unavailing, and that the
Brahmans were continually advancing in apostacy with rapid strides, and
seemed determined to bring matters to a crisis by drawing over the thoughtless
multitude into the torrent on which they themselves had emb^ked, were forced
into the unpleasant necessity of an open rupture. This became absolutely
unavoidable when, after so many other innovations, the Brahmans introduced
the dangerous novelty of the sacrifice of Yajna, in which a living offering,
generally a ram, is sacrificed, in contradiction to the most sacred and in-
violable principles of the Hindus, that uniformly and rigorously interdicted
every species of slaughter, which, in its most innocent form, no necessity could
justify.

After that detestable innovation, matters came to an extremity. The Jainas
assumed that appellation, which sufficiently denoted the course they were to
pursue. They kept no longer any terms, but declared themselves in a state of
open insurrection against the corrupters of the true primitive religion. They
withdrew from the Brahmans and all their adherents, and formed the body of
Jainas such as it now exists, and composed of some faithful Brahmans, of Ksha-

triya or Soldiers, of Vaisya or Merchants» stnd of Sudras or Cultivators. These
four divisions now compose the posterity of the Hindus of every cast who
united together» Ai eai4y times, to oppose the innovations of the Brahmans, and
who have preserved in purity the pristine religion of the country.

After this rupture, the Jainas, or true believers, never desisted, during a long
course of time, to oppose the progress of the Brahmans, and to reproach them
with their apostacy and impious conduct. The points on which they differed
had been till then the subjects merely of learned controversy, but now afforded
grounds for a long and bloody war, in which the Jainas held up for a long time
against their adversaries. But the wicked innovations of the Brahmans having
gradually been adopted by most of Uie Kshatriya or Rajas, and the great majority
of the other tribes, they became the more powerful party, and succeeded at last
in beating down the Jainas and reducing' them to a state of abject submission ;
everywhere demolishing the places and objects of their worship, depriving them
of their religious and civil liberty, excluding them from all places and employ-
ments, and reducing them to such absolute distress that in many provinces of
India there does not remain the sKghtest vestige of the Jainas or their worship.

This persecution and religious war, the commencement of which cannot be
exactly ascertained, as, according to all appearances, it must have begun at a
very remote period, seems to have continued to modem times; as we are
assured that Kings and other Jaina Princes exercised their government in many
<iountries of the pem'nsula within these four or five hundred years ; and it is
asserted that it was under their protection, and by their assistance, that severat
of the temples and other pubUc monuments were erected, which are at present
held by that sect and are to be found in the different provinces.

The Brahmans are now universally predominant. The Jainas no where pos-
sess the land nor even confidential employments ; but conform themselves in all
places to the ordinary life of other Hindus, addicting themselves, like the rest,
to agriculture and trade. The tribe of Vaisya, the most numerous of any, \%
almost exclusively engaged in traflSc, and chiefly in that of vessels of cop-
per and other metals used by the Hindus in their kitchens.

The Brahmans intermixed with the Jainas are not numerous. I have been
informed, however, that in the south of the Mysore, at the distance of three
or four days journey from the place where I am now writing, there are fifty or
sixty families of Brahman-Jainas who have a temple for their own special use,
with a Brahman Guru of their sect, who officiates in it, at a village called
Mahleyore.

552 JAINAS. tAfftnix.

In the principal temples pertaining to the sect» those for example of Bala-
gola, Madhu-giri and others, the Gurus or priests who perform the sa6l:ed
functions, are taken firom the tribe of Vaisya or Merchant^ and not fi-om
that of Brahmans. This usurpation on the part of the Vaisya, added to the
reproach they lie under of having corrupted or altered the true religion of
the Jainas, by mixing it with several superstitious practices of their opponents,
has excited against them the jealousy and distrust of the Brahmans of the sect,
who treat them as Patila or heretics. But the di£ferences between them have
never broken out into an open rupture.

The body of Jainas is divided into two principal sects, one of which bears
the name of Jakia^Basn^ and the other Kashta-Chanda-Swetambari. Accord-
ing to the system of the latter, there is no other Moksha or Mukti ; that is to
say, there is no other supreme felicity or object of mankind, but the carnal
enjoyment of the sexes. This article forms the distinguishing feature of their
sj^stem, although they also differ in several other points from the Jaina^Basnu
This last sect is more numerous than the other, and we offer this short abridge-
ment of the doctrines which they teach.

Religious System of the Jamas.

They acknowledge but one Supreme Being, one Grod only, \x^ whom they
give the appellations of Jainesnoara^ Fwra^matma^ Par-aparaJoastUj and several
others, all expressive of his infinite nature.

■

To this Being alone men ought to offer up their adoration and sacrifices.

The adoration and other marks of respect which the Jainas frequently offer to
their Tirthuru, their Chakravartis and to several other objects of worship held
sacred among them, and represented under a human shape, naturally refer to
the Supreme Being alone : for those holy personages, in taking possession after
death of the Moksha or Mukti, the supreme felicity, have become intimately
united and inseparably incorporated with the Divinity.

The Supreme Being is one and indivisible, spiritual and without parts or ex*
tension. His four principal attributes are as follows :

1. Ananta Gnanam : — * Wisdom infinite.

2. Ananta Darsanam: — Intuition infinite; or knowing all things, and
being every where present. •

3. Ananta Viryam : — Infinite power.

4. Ananta Sukham : — - Infinite happiness.

A^rtMDc] JAINAS. g^Q

This great Omnipotent is wholly absorbed in the contemplation of his own
infinite perfections and in the enjoyment of his own blessedness.

He concerns not himself at all with earthly things^ and intenneddles not
with the order and government of this great universe.

The virtue and vice, the good and evil which prevail in the world are equally
indifferent to him.

Virtue, being just and good in its own nature ; those who practise it in this
world, shall find an unbounded reward in another life, in a happy r^eneration,
or in immediate introduction to the Swarga.

Vice, being unjust and wicked in its nature, the vicious 'shall find a suitable
punishment in an evil resurrection, or in descending straight into the infernal
Naraka, there to expiate their crimes. But, in neither case, does the divTnity
interfere. He takes no concern in their actions here, nor in their rewards or
punishments in a future state.

Matter is eternal, and independent of the Divinity. Whatever exists noWf
has always existed, and will continue for ever.

Not only is matter eternal, but the order also that prevails in the universe,
such as the fixed and uniform motion of the stars, the separation of light from
darkness, the succession and renovation of the seasons, the production, and re-
production of animal and v^etable life. In short, whatsoever is visible is also
everlasting ; * and whatsoever is i^all endure without considerable alteration.

Metempsychosis.

The most prominent dogma of the religion of the Jainas is that of the trans-
migration of the soul of one body into another after death. The transition is
from the body of one man into that of another man, or into that of a brute :
and a soul is either elevated or degraded in this way, according to the previous
virtue or vice of the possessor.

The Jainas attempt to explain their system of future retribution in the fol*
lowing way.

Although a man may not have t# reproach himself with great crimes, yet still
the slightest tinge of vice discolours the genuine hue of virtue, and the offender
must sufler transmigration into the body of an insect, a reptile, a bird, (»r a
quadruped» and is degraded in tiiis respect, less or more, according to the
degree of his offences.

When the balance of virtue and vice stands nearly equal, and still more when
the good outweighs the evil, the soul removes into the body of a-rational créa-

4 b

554- JAINAS. [APFtmnc

ture, and regains a new existence more or less happy in proportion ta the
degree of virtue which it preserved in the other world. The noblest transmi-
gration of all is into a Brahman or into a cow.

When an individual has led a life eminently virtuous, he passes directly after
his decease to Swarga.

When a wicked man dies, he goes headlong into Naraka.

In these several particulars, the system of the Jainas differs very little from
that of their enemies the Brahmans ; but they differ more widely in their opi-
nions concerning the Lokas or worlds. For the Jainas entirely reject the four-
teen Lokas of the Brahmans and also their three principal abodes of happiness,
the Satya-lokOf Vaiktmtha and Kailasa^ the paradises of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva.

The Jainas admit but of three worlds, which they express by the generic
name of JagaUtriya. It comprises the Urddkwa^loka^ the paradise, whioh is the
highest of all ; the Adha-loka^ hell, and sometimes called Patala, the lowest of
all ; and the MadJnfo^loka^ or middle world, the earth, the abode of mortals.

1. The Vrddhwa^loka or Swarga.

That world, the first of the Jagat-triya, has Devendra for its king, and has
for inhabitants only the virtuous few. There are sixteen mansions in the
Swarga, in which a higher and a higher degree of happiness is enjoyed in pro-
portion to the degree of virtue. The first and best of the sixteen, in which the
highest felicity is found, is called Sadhu-dharma, and is attainable only by the
eminently holy, who will here enjoy uninterrupted bliss for a period of thirty-
three thousand years. The last and lowest of the sixteen abodes is called
Achuda Karpa, where the moderately virtuous are admitted and enjoy hap-
piness for a thousand years. In the intermediate places a degree of enjoyment
greater or less is inherited ; and every virtuous soul has its mansion assigned
according to its rank in merit.

The chief happiness enjoyed in these abodes arises from the company of
many women of exquisite beauty, from whose society the blessed draw the
purest delight, by indulging the senses of sight and hearing alone, and without
animal gratification. They are ravished to ecstacy by the continual view of
those enchanting creatures, whose melodious voices fill them with transports of
delight infinitely beyond what carnal pleasui*es can bestow.

But this life does not continue for ever. After enjoying it for a fixed num-
ber of years, in a state of less or greater intensity of happiness according to the
elevation of their respective merits, they are all doomed, each at his own pre-

Apfihdœ.] • JAINAS. 555

scribed period, to revisit the eartiii wh^e their souls renew the transmigration
from body to body.

Adha^loka or Naraka : Hell

The Second World of the Jagat-triya is called Adha-loka or Naraka^ and some-
times Patala. This is the lowest world of all, where those who had led the
most wicked lives on earth, whose sins were too numerous and flagrant to be
expiated by the vilest possible state of transformation, are doomed to linger in
some one of the seven dungeons, each more hideous than another.

The first abode, or least terrible, is called Retna^ceoai. The sinners who
are relegated thither suffer torments for .a thousand years. The second, or
Sarkcma-praioai^ is destined for those who are subjected to the torment of three
thousand years. The third is called Vahluka-praivau where the punishment
extends to seven thousand years. The fourth, named Panka^œuai detains its
prisoners ten thousand years* Then follow Dhuma^avai and Tama^(waij
the sixth and seventh, where the lengthened sufferings are for periods of seven-
teen and twenty-two thousands of years. But in the last and most dreadful of
all, the Mdha-damay-praoaiy the prison of the most obdurate and outrageous
sinners, the torture is prolonged during a space of three and thirty thousand
years. The souls of women, however guilty, being less capable of enduring the
extremity of pain, are never doomed to the unutterable woes of this last region
of the damned.

Sinners of all classes have thus their assigned periods, places, and degrees of
punishment ; and even in this ultimate place of horrors, the retribution is suited
to the relative excess of wickedness and crime. One of the punishments, to
which great criminals are there exposed, is to place them between two moun-
tains, the sides of which are made to approach, and, by collapsing, flatten the
bodies of the culprits, braying their bones to powder and spreading their sub-
stance over the whole face of the mountains like a thin leaf of a tree. The
mountains re-open and^recede, and again unite with a shock, disclosing the un-
happy wretch and crushing him again by turns. Nor does time bring relief^ by
ending his existence or deadening his sensibility to pain, until the long period
revolves and returns him again to the earth, to animate in rotation a aew series
of bodies.

In no region of the Naraka is the punishment perpetual j never exceeding
three and thirty thousand years, nor falling short of a thousand.

4 B ^

556 JAIMAa. • [ArnxBO.

The Madhya-hka.

The Third World of the Jagat-triya, is the Madkya^lokOj the intermediate
state, or world which men inhabit ; the abode of virtue and vice.

This Loka is a Ryu in extent, or the space which is traversed by the sun in
half his yearly course. But Jambu-dmpOj the earth in which we live, is but a
small part of the Madhya-loka, and is no more than a vast continent, environed
on all sides by a wide ocean. It contains a lake, extending a lak of Yojana in
length, or about four hundred thousand leagues ; in the midst of which the
fiimous mountain of Maha-meru raises its summit.

The Jambu-dwipa is divided into four parts; Purva^deha^ Apara^videha^ Bha^
ratO'kshetra (in which India is situated), and Ahi-vratta. These are situated on
the east, west, south, and north of the Maha-meru, respectively. They are like-
wise divided from each other by boundaries consisting of six enormous moun-
tains, called Hinuwat, MdhaJiinuwat*^ Nishadhoj Nila^ Ahrumam^ Sikaris; the
three first situated to the north of the lake, and the others to the south.

All tliese mountains stretch in one direction from east to west, and cross the
Hirhole Jambu-dwipa from sea to sea.

In the space which intervenes between one mountain and another, immense
plains are situated, where the trees, the shrubs, and the fruits are of a crimson
hue. Children of either sex, bom in those regions, are fit for propagation forty»
eight hours afler their birth. Men there are exempt from pain and disease.
Ever happy and contented, they feast on the succulent plants and delicious
fruits which the unsolicited earth yields them spontaneously : and placid even
is their death, which translates them into the elysium of Swarga.

On the summit of Mount Maha^hinuwat^ a mighty fountain springs, from
which the Ganges and Indus, with twelve other great rivers, take their origin.
These fourteen streams preserve a regular and unintermitting flow. Unlike the
spurious Indus and Ganges of the Brahmans, they are always unfordable, and
subject neither to flooding nor desiccation, to ebbing or flowing ; but keep their
even course through- the boundless plain, till they mingle their waves with the
ocean.

The Jaina names for thesefourteen rivers are Gtmga, Sindu, Rohita-toya, Rohita,
Harita-toya, Harikantha, Sitha, Sit'oda, Nari, Narikantha, Swama-kula, Rup3ra«
kula, Riktha, Rikth'oda.

* May not these be the greater and lesser Imaus ?

Appbkdix.] JAINAS. gffj

The dea which encircles the Jambu-dwipa is two laks of yojana in breadth, or
eight hundred thousand leagues. Beyond this great expanse of waters there is
another Jambu-dmpa or continent called Maha^lavani. It has also a race of inha*
bitants, with its own Maha-merUj and sacred rivers intersecting its ample plains.
This Jambu-dwipa is two laks of yojana in extent, and is surrounded with a sea
four laks of yojana across.

Beyond this sea there is another Jambwdwipa^ cdlled Dahata-^hendah^ which is
double the extent of the preceding, and has two Maha-meru mountains. It is
inhabited by human beings also, and has its holy fountains and rivers. The sea
is here eight lacks of yojana across.

On the other side of this ocean a fourth Jambu-dwipa is situated, with the impos-
ing appellation of Ptcskara-vratta-dwipay which again doubles the preceding in
all its proportions ; has its two Mount Maha-merus, its streams, and its sur-
rounding ocean.

On the farther shores of this utmost sea, at a distance of sixteen laks of yojana,
a mountain rears its head, with the name of Manush'otra-parvata, forming the
Thermopylae of the human race, beyond which no earthly being has ever passed.
The islands in that extreme ocean have never been visited by man.

In each of the four Jambu-dwipas, there are several Tirihuru^Chakrwvarti^ Vasn^
devata^ and other holy persons. The numbers of each class vaiy, but there are
not less than twenty of any one, nor more than eighty.

Sticcession and Division qfTime.

The duration of Time is divided into six periods, which have been succeeding
each other without interruption from all eternity. At the close of each, a
general and total revolution takes place through all nature ; and the world is
renewed.

The first and longest of these periods is called Pratama-kala^ and endures
four koti of koti, or forty millions of millions of years.

The second, Drntiya-kak^ lasts thirty millions of millions.

Trettya-kaUiy the third, diminishes to twenty millions of millions.

Chaturta-kakif the fourth, comes doym to ten millions of millions, bating forty-
two thousand years.

The fifth period, called Panchama^kaloy or time of inconstancy and change,
is the very age in which we now live, and will last twenty one thousand years.
This present year of the Christian sera, 1807, is the two thousand four hundred
and fiftieth year of the Panchanuukala of the Jainas.

558 JAINAS. CApPEiroix.

The recency of the commencement of this period, going back only 24^50 years,
strikes me as something remarkable, and inclines me to believe that it takes its
originfrom the epoch of their open rupture with the Brahmans, and their separation
from the other Hindus. So famous an event might well give rise to a new era.
If this point could be well ascertained, it would enable us to fix with more pro-
bability than we can do now,^ the origin and antiquity, of the greater number of
Hindu tales ; because it was the invention, as it is thought, and the introduction
of these fables into the religious system of the Hindus, that created the schism
which still subsists between the Brahmans and Jainas.

The sixth and last of the periods is called Shashta^kalaf and will continue a
thousand years. When it arrives, the element of fire shall disappear from the
earth, and those who are then alive shall feed on unwholesome reptiles and such
roots and herbs as they can find in their precarious search.

In that last age there will be in the earth neither division nor abolition of
casts, no public nor private property, no form of government, no kings nor
laws. Men shall then have passed into a savage state.

. The period will close with a Pralayam^ a flood which shall inundate all the
earth except the mountain Vidyarthoj which is of silver, and will alone remain
unburied by the waters.

The flopd will be occasioned by unceasing rain of forty-seven days, attended
with a mixture and confusion of the elements.

Some persons living near the mountain of silver will take refuge in the caves
that are about it, and shall be saved from the universal ruin. When the flood retires,
they will come forth from the mountain and replenish the earth. The six periods
will coipmence again in their regular order and succeed one another as before.

Knowledge and Learning of the Jainas.

The learning and science of the Jainas is wholly deposited in four VedaSf
twenty-four Puranas, and sixty-four Sastras.

The names of the Puranas are the same with those of the twenty-four Tirthurus
formerly mentioned, there being a Purana devoted to each Tirthuru and contain-
ing his history.

The names of the four Vedas are Pratamani-yoga, Charanani-yoga^ Kara^
nani-yogOf Dravyani-yoga. They were written by Ad^es^aray the most ancient
and famous personage known among the Jainas, He flourished before the twenty-
four Tirthurus, and burst upon this world from the Swarga. Assuming our nature,
be underwent the .life of a Brahman, a penitent, and a Nirvani. He lived a
whole Purva Koti pr a hundred million pf millions pf years. He is not only

Appsndix.] JAINAS. ggg

the author of the Vedas, which he wrote witli his own hand ; but he also divided
men into jdifferent casts, laid down the rules by which they were to be directed,
their form of government, and all the ordinances which still unite the Jainas to
one another. Ad'eswara, in short, is in every respect to the Jainds what
Brahma is to the Brahmans, and probably both are formed from the same model;

The Shalaka Purusha.

Besides Ad'eswara, who is considered as the most perfect of beings who
ever appeared on our earth in human shape, the Jainas acknowledge sixty-three
other famous personages whom they denominate by the generic appellation of
Shalaka Purusha; and their history is found recorded in the &st of the
Vedas, called Pratamani-yoga, and also in the twenty-four Puranas. Of these
sixty-three holy personages, twenty-four are Tirthurus, twelve Chakravartis, nine-
Vasu-devatas, nine Bala-vasu-devatas, and nine Balarramas.

The twenty-four Tirthurus are the' most celebrated of these holy personages.
Their condition was the most elevated that any human being can attain. They
all lived in the most absolute state of Nirvani or naked penitents. They were
subject to no human infirmity, weakness, or want, not even to mortality. After
sojourning long upon earth in purity and holiness, they chose at last to depart,
and by slow degrees their physical frame dissolved, yielding up to the five ele-
ments the particles belonging to each, which were gradually attracted to the
Mokshûf the abode of the divinity, and united to his nature for ever.

The Tirthurus descended from the Swarga and assumed the human form in the
tribe of Kshatriya or Rajas. They afterwards became Brahmans, having been
initiated into that tribe by the ceremony of Dakshina. During their lives they
gave an example of all the virtues, exhorting men to conform to the precepts
and rules enjoined by Ad'eswara, and devoted themselves to the practice of
penitence and contemplation. Several of them lived very long. The first
existed some millions of years. The lives of the rest gradually diminished, and
the last of all lived no more than eighty years. They^ flourished in the age
called Chaturta Kala^ which immediately preceded that of our own times, and
lasted a koti of kotis, or ten millions of millions of years.

Some of them had been married before they became penitents^ but afterwards

renounced their wives in order to devote themselves to a contemplative and

ascetic life. Others were penitents from their youth up. Their names are as

follow: Vrishabha, Adita, Sambhava, Abhinandana, Sumati, Padma-prabha,

Subh'arshava, Chandra-prabha, Fushpa-danti, Sitala, Sryansga, Yasu-pujya»

■ <

gQQ JAINAS. [Appendix.

Yimala, Ananta, Dharma» Santi, Kimtu» Ara^ Malla, Muni-suvratta, Mahny,
Mihuny, Parasiva, Vardhamana.

There are no Tirthurus at present in this division of the Jambu-dwipa» which
those holy persons have disappeared from, several thousand years ago ; although
they will return in future ages.

Besides the twenty-four Tirthurus, the Jainas reckon also twelve Chakra-vartis
in the number of their sixty-three Shalaka Purusha. These Chakra-vartis were
a sort of emperors who had divided amongst them the dominion of the Jam-
bu-dwipa. They were contemporary with the Tirthurus, and bore the following
names: Bharata, Sagara, Maghava, Sanatkumara, Santi, Kuntu, Hara,
Subama, Arasayana, Jaya-sena, Sur'endrata, Brahmadata.

These twelve Chakra-vartis descended also from Swarga, and in the
human form joined the tribes of Rajas. From thence some of them being
adopted into the cast of Brahmans became penitents, and were ultimately re-
ceived' into the state of endless felicity at their death. Others returned again
to Swarga from which they had descended ; and the remaining part having led
a dissolute life while in this world have been sent at their death to expiate
their new crimes in Naraka.

The twelve Chakra-vartis or emperors were frequently at war with each
other. They were also frequently opposed by the nine Bala-vasu-devas, the
nine Vasu-devatas and the nine Baia-ramas * ; these seven and twenty being
a sort of half Chakra-vartis and reckoned amongst the sixty-three Shalaka^.
purusheru ; and their history is written in the first of the Vedas called Prata-
mani-yoga, and also in the twenty-four Puranas and other sacred compositions.

The second Veda of the Jainas has the name of Charanani-yoga, and de-
scribes at length the rules of the casts of the various ranks and conditions in
society, and several other matters of that kind.

The third Veda, called Karanani-yoga, describes the nature, order, and
composition of the Jagat-triya or three worlds.

The fourth Veda, Dravyani-yoga, teaches the philosophy, including the
metaphysical systems of the Jainas, described under the titles of six Dravya^
five Panchashti Kaya^ seven Tatva^ and nine Padartha ; being twenty, seven
in all, and comprising all that is extant on the philosophical institutions of the
Jainas.

* The Rama of the Brahmans is found among the nine Bala-ramas of the Jainas, as
Krishna is one of their nine Vasu-devata. The Brahmans have usurped these two names in
order to complete the Avataras of their Vishnu. But they were not allowed to pass amongst
the gods of the Brahmans until they had died and suffered the pains of Naraka, as die
Jainas affirm.

^pntKDix.] JAINA8. 5QX

Rank qf Sonny asi Nhvani^ among the Jamas.

The highest station to which a human being can attain is that of Sannyasi
Nirvani or naked penitent. A person in this situation is no longer a man but
becomes a part of the divinity, to whom he is in some measure assimilated by
his devotions. When he has arrived at the highest possible degree in this pro-
fession, he voluntarily lays it down, and, without dying, his earthly frame is
attenuated, and he obtains the Moksha by absorption into the godhead.

No true Nirvani penitent now exists in this division of Jagat-triya ; and con-
sequently no mortal is now capable of obtaining the Moksha or supreme feli-
city \ because, to be qualified for that distinction, a man must have been a
Brahman bom, and must also pass through the state of a Nirvani penitent.

Women never having aspired at any time to this rank, it follows that in no
age, can persons of that sex have been qualified to receive the Moksha.

After many millions of years and several millions of transmigrations from
body to body, all men ultimately attain to the state of Nirvani penitent, and
terminate their course by reunion with the divinity through the blessing of
Moksha.

But, before arriving at this sublime condition, it is requisite to pass through
eleven inferior degrees of contemplation, forming a noviciate or course of pre-
paration for the degree of Nirvani, during which the penitent is gradually ac-
quiring advancement in purity until he arrives at ultimate perfection.

These eleven degrees are : Darsanaka, Vrataka, Samayika, Prasadhava-vachi,
Sach-chitta-vrata, Ratri-vakta, Bramachari, Arama-vrata, Parijna-vrata, Anuman^
vrata, Utachti-vrata, and Nirvani.

When he has reached this lofty summit, the penitent is no longer of this
world, but becomes wholly insensible to earthly concerns. He sees, with equal
indifference, the good and the evil, the virtue and the vice which prevail
amongst men. He is entirely exempted from human passions and their effects,
and neither loves nor hates. He. is beyond the wants of nature, and can bear
aU sorts of privations without pain. Hunger and thirst are no longer felt, and
he can pass weeks or months without sustenance. When he submits to food,
he- takes indiscriminately whatever nourishment, either animal or vegetable,
comes in his way. An excrement, if it comes the readiest, is not rejected. He
knows not the shelter of a roof, the bare plain or shady forest being his only
alternative. Having no wants, he lives in absolute independence and in total
estrangement from other men. Though quite naked, he is utterly regardliess of

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